Maximus! PartII
by CSnow
Summary: Adopted from padfootsrevenger. Harry and Luna are the only ones left from the war and travel to a separate world where they join the wizarding world as the Maximus twins...
1. Wolfsbane

HP belongs to JKR.

Maximus! Original idea and first 25 chapters written by padfootsrevenger… story adopted by me. I hope to do it justice! Or at least continue making it an interesting read…

They still had a couple of weeks left of the Christmas break. Dorian and Jasmine were ecstatic at the chance to spend the time in the castle. Dorian had become quite attached to Leevi and Jasmine to Christelle—so much so that the twins were pressed to find some time alone to work on their other plans. Dumbledore had put up the Potters, Sirius, and Remus in a set of connected rooms near the Gryffindor tower while the children stayed in their rooms in the tower.

"Leevi."

"Christelle?" Leevi opened his eyes, but the curtains around his bed were still closed. He tugged them open and felt the bed shift as a disillusioned Christelle climbed into the bed beside him. She dropped the charm and put up some silencing charms.

"We need to talk."

"_Tempus"._ Five a.m. Ugh. "Why can't it wait until a more reasonable time?" he grumbled.

"Because we're surrounded by everyone else when it's a _reasonable_ time." Christelle huffed. "We need to reinstate the DA."

"I know, but we've been working on so many things right now—"

"We can't wait. Quirrel is back, Snape's after the stone, and Neville… Neville isn't ready Harry, he doesn't have your drive, he doesn't… he's not a leader. Never was."

Leevi looked at her curiously. "I'm not the Boy Who Lived here Christelle, and I don't want to be. That's Neville's job. I'll help and goodness knows the wizarding world was a mess even without Voldemort, but I don't want to go through all that again."

Christelle's eyes got a far away look. "A Maximus is not a Potter."

"Well—"

"But he's still a Maximus."

He glared at her half-heartedly. "Right. And I'm not going to let Voldie run all over Neville either. We'll get things squared away with the goblins before the term starts and then pick up the pace on the training, okay?"

She nodded. "We need to train too. I've watched your memories of the transfiguration classes with McGonagall. I want to try some. Come on."

"What, now?" Leevi's shoulders slumped. "Aww.."

"Come on, lazy." Christelle smiled at him. "If we go now we'll have a good two hours before anyone else thinks to check on us, and we can sneak in a half hour of dueling."

Leevi's eyes sparkled and he smirked. "I'm gonna getcha sis."

Christelle just laughed and threw a pillow at him. "Hurry up then, you twit."

ooOOoo

The Great Hall was decorated beautifully for the Christmas holidays. While the adults sat together at the head table, the children gathered around a single long table as their numbers were low enough that scattering themselves over the four house tables would have been quite inappropriate to the holiday cheer.

Harry, Leevi, Ron, and Neville walked in together, followed after a few minutes by Christelle and Jasmine. Not long after they started their breakfast, an owl flew in and hopped over to extend a letter to Leevi. He quickly took it off the owl's leg and put it in his robe after seeing the Gringott's seal. Christelle handed the owl some sausage while the owl preened its feathers. It absently took the sausage from her fingers, bobbed its head and left.

"What's that?" Harry asked.

"Nothing important." Christelle answered mildly. "Hey, you guys want to go flying today? I bet Dorian and Jasmine would like a nice visit of the grounds—we haven't even taken them to the lake yet!"

Ron smiled at the idea of flying. "Say yeah! As long as it's not too cold out."

"We'll be fine—remember, we already got all our winter stuff!" Harry added, letter forgotten. After all, his cousins getting mail really wasn't that surprising an occurrence anymore.

Leevi smiled at how easy it was to sidetrack the boys. He'd slip the letter to Christelle later and knowing her, she'd beg off after a while and go somewhere to read and answer it. No one would notice.

But Albus Dumbledore noticed. And Remus Lupin, despite still recovering, noticed him noticing.

ooOOoo

Christelle walked purposefully to the girl's dorm room as she shed her wet gloves. She could still hear the boys whooping and edging each other on as they raced on brooms outside. While Dorian and Jasmine weren't allowed to race, they seemed quite excited to be outside watching. And throwing snowballs that the racers had to dodge. They did seem so much happier here than they were at the Potter's manor.

_Lord Maximus and Lady Aranea,_

_I am pleased to inform you that a few buildings have become available in Wales for a secondary location for your enterprise. Details are below. Raxiel will be available to guide you whenever you choose to see them. Primary location has been outfitted as requested. The following members on your list are the only ones that we have not been able to locate. I await your presence on January 3__rd_

_May your business be profitable,_

_Lord Rianak_

Christelle read the descriptions of the three buildings Rianak had managed to find. They all seemed suitable for their purposes, although one that was previously an orphanage and had easy access to a nice forest behind it could be exceedingly helpful. She quickly wrote a reply and sent it off with Hedwig. They would need a plan to leave for most of the day to see the locations and once again on the 3rd for the interviews. It was time to put their plan into action. Her smile only faded when she looked at the list of people the goblins had not been able to locate. The Lovegoods were on that list.

ooOOoo

The next day was Christmas and everyone cheerfully exchanged gifts by the grand tree in the Great Hall. Lily looked at the children who were, for the most part, gleefully bunching up the wrapping paper and throwing them at each other. For the most part. Her heart gave a little lurch as she watched the two newest members of her family. Leevi looked all right, if a bit subdued but Christelle—Christelle didn't seem to be fully there today and her brother hung over her protectively.

"James, look at them. They should be laughing with the kids…"

"I wonder what's bothering them." James said thoughtfully, as he latched the clasp of the bracelet he had bought his wife around her delicate wrist. She smiled and gave him a little peck on the cheek. "They seemed quite all right yesterday."

"Well, I'm going to join in!" Sirius said smiling, raining a bunch of confetti on the children as he moved towards them from the head table.

Remus shook his head and gave a little smile. "He's just like them, isn't he?" The Potters smiled at him knowingly until his smile faded. "You know, this might be their first Christmas without their parents." Lilly clutched James's arm and looked worriedly at the children, but Sirius seemed to have taken care of the problem temporarily, as he had made sure to target both of the Maximus children with silly string and a tickling charm.

After the adults finally decided to intervene and banish the mess in the Great Hall, they all adjourned to the Gryffindor Common Room where Lilly and Sirius took turns reading stories to the children as was tradition in the Potter home.

"Hey, you okay?" Leevi whispered.

Christelle nodded, absently petting Damon and then reaching over to tickle Melton under the chin where he was wound on Leevi's arm. The snake hissed appreciatively.

"It's not just an act, is it?" He asked quietly. She shook her head, and he silently put an arm comfortingly around her shoulders as she leaned in. "I'm here, and I'll always be here for you." She nodded.

Neville scooted over and sat silently to her other side, not understanding but wanting to offer comfort. Ron and Harry were quite oblivious, being completely engrossed in the story. Dorien and Jasmine giggled and gasped and clapped accordingly as Sirius made faces and Lilly read.

Christelle sighed. It was just too much coincidence really, that the anniversary of her mother's accident and her father's death at the hand of Death Eaters were within a week of each other and had happened during the holidays. She hadn't dwelt on her father's passing much before, mostly because of the war and in the excitement of finding a new family and Rianak's letter, hadn't been prepared for the backlash of sorrow. Well, at least it coincided with their need to travel to Gringotts the next day.

"Can I take a nap in your room?" she asked Leevi.

"Are you all right, Christille?" Neville asked softly, laying a hand on the small of her back softly. She gave him a smile and nodded, as Leevi helped her up from the floor.

"You want me to stay with you?" he asked softly. She nodded and looked into his eyes. Her friend. He was the only one who knew the possible reason why she was feeling such melancholy and yet—he was here with a surrogate version of his family.

Sirius looked up as the Leevi and Christille moved off. His eyes riveted to Neville, who moved forward to join the other children. "They wanted to rest before dinner." He explained softly. Lilly and Sirius gave each other a look before he softly continued the story and she walked up the stairs after the twins.

Lilly found them sitting on Leevi's bed, Christelle's eyes closed and head against his shoulder.

"Leevi? Christelle?"

"Hi Aunt Lilly." Christelle opened her eyes. Lilly's brow furrowed at the almost glazed look in the girl's eyes.

"I understand this may be a hard time for you two," she said as she sat at the edge of the bed, one hand reaching out to squeeze the young girl's hands. She looked over at Leevi who matched her gaze directly. "But I wanted you to know that we're very happy to have you as part of our family and would do anything for you to be happy, especially during the holidays." Leevi nodded, and she smiled. "Let us know if you need anything." She stood up to leave, feeling that the twins needed their time together.

"Aunt Lilly?"

"Yes?" she turned around to see Christelle's eyes opened again. "Do you think Leevi and I could make a trip to Gringott's tomorrow? To look at some of the things our parents left for us in the vault?"

Lilly smiled softly and felt as if someone had a hand clenched around her heart. The poor dears. "Of course. One of us will accompany you, at least to Gringotts." Probably herself. The guys might not want to leave the children by themselves in the vault, but they would need to privacy. Well, maybe Remus would, but he really needed to keep resting.

Christelle nodded and put her head back on Leevi's shoulder. He, in turn smiled at Lilly and thanked her softly.

"Christelle?" he asked softly after his mom had left the room. He put up some silencing wards. "Luna?"

"I miss him."

"I know."

Silence.

"We don't have to do it tomorrow, you know." He said softly.

"I want to. I'll be doing something for them, in a way." She paused. "I just wish I could find them here, or at least know what happened."

Leevi just hugged her hard, putting his chin over her bowed head. They hadn't had time to mourn for individuals, the massacre of the war had been so immense. He realized that he'd been overlooking her with all the plans they had made, but vowed to never do that again. After all, they were bound by more than even the blood from the ritual. They were the only ones here from their world.

ooOOoo

"My dear boy, are you sure you can handle the DADA class? Poppy says there will most probably be repercussions from the Christmas Charity Party incident and I don't want to add teaching to your troubles." Albus frowned.

"Albus, I appreciate your concern but truly, I should be fine by the time classes start. I'll modify some of the upper years's curricula so they are a little less strenuous on me and both James and Sirius have offered to help. It'll be good for them to see some Aurors at work anyhow." Remus smiled and answered easily. Something was bothering the twins and he wasn't going to budge.

"Well, Quirinus here can also help once in a while—I'm sure he has some tales from Romania that would be acceptable for the DADA curriculum."

"Ye-ss, uh, st-tt-ories th-th-that wo-ould d-dd-definitely be of-f the r-right-t ca-c-caliber."

"And of course, you are welcome to stay as long as you wish." Albus said kindly.

"Thank you." Remus said, getting to his feet. He held out his hand to shake Quirinus's. The other man's firm grip wasn't quite in line with his mannerism, but Remus put it out of his mind as he turned to Albus. "I'll be in my rooms then."

ooOOoo

"Lord Maximus, Lady Aranea, welcome to Gringotts." Raxiel smiled widely at the siblings as they walked up the counter. "May your gold flow and the stars smile upon you."

"Likewise, dear Raxiel." Christelle answered, smiling. Leevi turned around to see Lilly and James leaving the bank.

"This way, please." Raxiel didn't waste time to lead them to a back room where Lord Rianak was already waiting.

"Lord Rianak, may your business be most profitable." Leevi greeted courteously.

The elder goblin nodded and smiled. "Likewise, young Lord Maximus. I have here a few things that may be of your interest."

"Vanishing cabinets!" Christelle whispered excitedly, walking up and putting a reverent hand on them. "You actually found some!"

"Yes," Rianak said smugly. "Raxiel had a lot to do with it as a young goblin with many friends. He has offered to place them in the locations of your enterprise."

"That is quite wonderful." Christelle answered, nodding at Raxiel appreciatively. The young goblin straightened his shoulders and nodded gravely.

Leevi and Christelle followed Raxiel through the first set of doors into the first of three places. After looking at the different locations, they decided on the orphanage with access to the woods as Christelle had predicted. As she ventured into the forest itself, Leevi returned to Gringotts to speak with Rianak about the heads of departments to interview, as some of them had been able to answer the summons early. He was most interested in setting up the potions department as soon as possible and have them making wolfsbane before the weeks end.

Meanwhile, Christelle walked quietly into the woods. It was quite different from the Forbidden Forest on the Hogwarts grounds, but there was something else she had been looking for. She picked some flowers and transfigured them into small translucent beads. She held them in her hands and whispered to the empty forest.

"They have kept you away. And we're here to bring these two strands together. Feel free to spread the word." Slowly, the beads in her hands began to disappear. Some of them reappeared to glitter in her hair, but most of them zipped through the air to different parts of the forest and jumped to other areas as invisible beings gave them wings. Christelle smiled as she took the last three and let them float along the current of a small brook. They had ignored the possibility of help from the friends that only a few could see in the last war, but not in this one. She'd noticed that they had been banished from London when they'd arrived, even from Hogwarts although that hadn't been the case last time. This patch of woods was the last refuge where she'd found them in one of the last struggles of the war. This time, they would be recruited to their side.

ooOOoo

The new term had started without a hitch. Griffin Inceptum, the new research and development facility, had opened its doors the first week of January, one location in London staffed with potion masters, researchers and developers of charms, counter curses, and hexes, while a second location in Wales was slowly being staffed with select potion and charm masters interested in studying with vampires and werewolves, finding ways for the different species to interact. These were handpicked by the goblins and interviewed directly with Leevi under the disguise of Altair Roderick, and were the basis for cooperative relations between the different societies. Interestingly, the muggles that were recruited were also positioned here while the wizards in the London facility provided services to the wizarding community and a façade for the Ministry of Magic.

Christelle brought some first year Hufflepuffs to join their morning work outs and lamented the Ravenclaws who would not give up time from their studies, but their group was growing slowly.

"I don't know what we'd do without the Room of Requirements." Leevi panted as he ducked a stunner from Christelle. They had asked for an old classroom setting to practice their dueling this time. He retaliated with a cutting curse which Christelle avoided by jumping up onto a desk and slammed on a shield as she sent a blasting curse his way as she dove off in search of a less vulnerable area.

"It is quite helpful to have an area for ourselves." She answered softly as she rolled behind another desk. A timer went off.

"Aww, but this is so much more fun than transfiguration." Leevi groused as he stepped out and the room began to change to a nice open space.

Christelle ignored his whining, she'd heard it plenty of times since they had set up a schedule for their own training. "I think we should try to transfigure our hands into one of our animagus parts."

"Really?" Leevi's head perked up. "Do you think we're ready?"

"We're certainly past transfiguring other things." She said as she plopped down on some pillows the room had kindly offered her. She stared at her left hand as she went through the steps in her head.

"Do you think Remus took the Wolfsbane?" she asked softly as Leevi settled down to do the same.

"I don't know, Snape seemed really interested in those vials yesterday morning."

"I know, I just hope Uncle Remus is smart enough to not hand them over to him for testing."

"I hadn't thought of that." Leevi frowned. "You think they still use the Shrieking Shack?"

"Maybe. At least we know the werewolves at the Griffin Inceptum are taking it and can gauge our success at reformulating the potion." Christelle said, pouting.

"Yeah, but we won't hear from them until next week." Leevi sighed, then waved a furry paw at Christelle. "Look! I got it!"

"Hmmph." Christelle looked at her left hand which was still definitely a hand. "I think I've been concentrating on the wrong area."

"Huh?"

Christelle shifted her position on the pillows to give him a better look. A reddish brown tail thumped happily on the floor as Leevi clutched his stomach in laughter, his paw once more a hand.

ooOOoo

"They're _dark_ creatures, Dumbledore. I don't want them having the ability to think and plan their attacks on the good citizens under the protection of the British Ministry of Magic!" Fudge sputtered.

"But my dear Minister Fudge," the elderly wizard soothingly replied. "If they have the ability to think, we can give them incentives to not attack anyone."

"I don't like it—giving them too much freedom, too much power, I say. How can we protect ourselves from them?"

"I am more interested in learning more about those that have made this discovery."

"The Griffin Inceptum? Dumbledore, all their paperwork is in order. Some chap from the Americas came by and wanted to expand his branch of business here. Got everything filed—everything—and you know how many forms we require. There's nothing out of place, we have no plausible reason to investigate them."

"No wrongdoings in the administrative part, but is their business really good for our good citizens?" Dumbledore asked subtly. "Is the research they are fostering the _right_ kind of research?"

"Hmm." Fudge didn't notice Dumbledore's sudden change of stance. The old wizard's questions stroke a cord with his own qualms for they were helping dark creatures after all! "I'm sure a small visit by some aurors would not go amiss."

Dumbledore left the minister's office after a few more minutes of light conversation and tea. He needed to know what might influence these loyalties and in which way. Voldemort wasn't going to stay quiet forever, and an unknown factor had arisen where there had been none before. The Light side might need the brute strength of werewolves when the final battle came, and he needed to be able to direct that force. The Wolfsbane was a godsend, but still a new power that needed someone to direct it.

ooOOoo

The weeks went by. Remus had spoken with Sirius, James, and Lilly about the experimental potion from the new company in London, but had decided to take it without alerting the headmaster or Snape.

"_It just seems like breaking the company's confidences, it's their product after all." He'd said. _

_Lilly was worried about potential side effects, but they'd made a deal so she would be waiting in sight of the Whomping Willow. If there were problems and needed Poppy, James would run out in his animagus form and she would go in and get the mediwitch—otherwise, James and Sirius would stay with Remus as they always had been._

_They'd sat together at the Shrieking Shack, Prongs wandering outside to make sure no one was nearby while Padfoot kept Remus company as the moon came up._

_Petting his friend's head, Remus whispered softly. "I really hope this works." Padfoot whined in tandem._

_The moon rose, and the transformation began. It was faster than any previous ones and Padfoot cautiously sniffed Moony. The scent was distinctly that of the wolf, but the traces of Remus were far stronger than they'd ever been. Usually this was when things got a little violent until they got outside and ran in the Forbidden forest. This time, Moony simply licked his nose, walked sedately to the door and pawed it open. Soon, Prongs joined them and they ran briskly into the forest._

_Sitting in the infirmary after the moon descended, he spoke softly to his fellow Marauders._

"_That potion is one of the best things that has happened to me."_

_Sirius smiled at his friend. "You were much more fun to have around too, Moony."_

"_Moony was a lot more accepting of me this time around also." Remus said contemplatively. I wonder if it was due to the Wolfsbane or to our interactions last time when we got poisoned? _

"_I'm glad it all worked out. And we don't have to tell Snivellus about it!" James yawned. "okay, don't know about you guys but I got an early morning tomorrow… meeting with Bones. Apparently the minister wants us to check out this new Griffin Inceptum since all its paperwork is in order. I don't think he likes the products they're coming out with."_

_Remus frowned. "Well, I'm certainly going to support this Wolfsbane." The others nodded. _

"_I think the Black family might donate some to their efforts." Sirius smiled crookedly. "I haven't had that much fun running with you in years."_

"_Yeah, I'll try to figure out what's got the minister all tied up in knots. Maybe Albus'll know something too."_

"_Ever find out anything else about that adoption he wanted to do?" Remus asked._

"_Nope. He's apparently dropped it since before the winter holidays. I don't know what he was thinking but at least he's leaving the kids alone now." James frowned. "He's been visiting the minister an awful lot though."_

"_Hmm." Remus muttered as Sirius yawned. Poppy walked in briskly, shaking her head at them. _

"All right young men, we know Mr. Lupin is fine and all of you need rest, so scoot! Out of my infirmary!"

Remus sighed as he looked at the potion vials he had just received. The full moon was a couple of weeks away again, and he was glad to have these to help him. He wondered if he was going to be able to afford it after it moved from the experimental trials into the market. He sure hoped so.

ooOOoo

AN: What do you think? Please review! Would love to hear your thoughts.


	2. Philosopher's Stone

HP belongs to JKR, the beginning of the story belongs to padfootsrevenger. I'm just continuing with some of my own ideas!

No sue. Please.

It was the week before the Easter holidays. Leevi and Christelle walked down to breakfast together as their training had left them hungry and ready before the others.

"Where's Dumbledore?"

Christelle looked at the head table and shrugged. "Maybe he had business elsewhere."

"Tonight's a full moon." Leevi whispered. "Dumbledore's always here during the full moon in case something happens to Remus."

"Things have been very quiet lately." She said thoughtfully. "Tonight, you think? He _is_ running out of time. I overheard them say they're moving it during the holidays."

"We'll keep an eye out then." Leevi hissed softly to Melton. _"Could you go stay with Fluffy?"_ The snake slithered off under the table and out the door as Ron, Harry, and Neville walked in to join them for breakfast. Before they reached the table, Leevi smiled at his sister and said softly, "You know, I'm quite proud of how they figured out what it was on their own. They deserve to be there to stop Quirrel." Christelle nodded and turned to meet the group. But neither she nor Neville had been there last time. And Neville was rubbing his chest awkwardly.

Dumbledore still wasn't back for dinner and Quirrel had taken over the DADA class that afternoon. Harry, Neville, Ron, and Hermione worked in the common room on their transfiguration essays while Leevi and Christelle sat on a couch, reading. In actuality Leevi was talking to Melton but Christelle was actively reading a book on runes.

"I'm going downstairs for a bite to eat." Leevi said suddenly.

"Tickling the pear?" Christelle asked quietly. She turned to the others. "Hey guys, we're going to get a snack from the kitchens before curfew. Coming?"

"Sure!" Neville, Harry, and Ron said simultaneously. Hermione groaned and shut her book.

"How are those essays coming along?" Christelle asked, noting that Leevi was too tense to make any sort of conversation.

"Arrrgh. I just hope I can—wait, who's that?" Harry started to answer. They were on the staircase heading to the third floor.

"Shh!" Leevi motioned them to crouch down to the level of the banisters.

"Snape?" Christelle and Leevi shared a look. That was unexpected.

"He must be after the stone!" Ron said excitedly.

"Come on, McGonagall might still be in her classroom—that's just on the fourth floor, we can go get her." Hermione said quietly and moving back up the stairs, but Harry grabbed her robes.

"No time, Hermione!"

Leevi looked between the two of them. This was different. Different enough that they should probably notify some of the adults. "Hermione, you go get McGonagall, we'll follow Snape. We won't do anything, just follow and watch and if there's some other change another one of us will notify another teacher, ok?"

Hermione nodded and moved off.

"Let's go. Wands out, everyone." The rest of them moved quietly towards the third floor. As they approached the corridor, Leevi held out an arm stopping them.

"What's wrong Leevi?" Harry asked. But then they all heard it. A low, deep growl.

"That's not coming from inside the room." Christelle said, turning around. She gasped and pushed the others back into the corridor. "Go, go, go, go, it's a werewolf—"

"Alohamora!" Leevi quickly opened the door and pulled the boys with him, the sounds of a small harp fading away. Christelle paused at the door.

"I'll keep him away, you take them in." She whispered to her twin.

"Christelle—"

Another growl answered his ears. "Uh… Leevi…" Harry swallowed convulsely.

_Young master, the harp has stopped playing. _Melton's voice came back from inside the dark room. _And three heads one stomach isn't happy two got past him already._

"Two?" Leevi muttered, quickly conjuring a piano to play in the corner, settling down Fluffy back into sleep. He turned back to the door, but it was already closed and Christelle was outside. She could handle the werewolf, right? Even if Lupin was in the castle in wolf form, he would have taken the Wolfsbane and not attack a student?

"Where's Christelle?" Neville asked softly.

"She went to get more help." Leevi answered automatically. "Let's go." He moved to the trapdoor and they all jumped in.

ooOOoo

"Lumos." The light at the tip of her wand allowed her to see the werewolf at the end of the corridor. She was right. That wasn't Lupin.

Christelle allowed Damon to crawl off her arm. _Don't do anything stupid._ The snake hissed. _Same to you._ She hissed softly. She remembered how a group of them had fought off some werewolves, but she didn't have any silver daggers with her. Spells wouldn't work very well against them during the full moon, but she would try those first. Otherwise, it would be time to test the results of her transfiguration sessions with Leevi.

ooOOoo

"Professor McGonagall! Professor McGonagall!" Hermione burst into the Transfiguration classroom. The elderly witch looked up from grading papers.

"Miss Granger, how may I help you?"

"Where's Professor Dumbledore?"

"He had business at the Ministry, dear. How can I help you?"

"It's Professor Snape! He's trying to get to the stone!"

"What stone?" McGonagall looked at one of her most gifted Gryffindors thoughtfully. What did this girl know?

"The Philosopher's stone! We figured out that was what you were hiding in the third floor—Professor Snape's after it!"

"Nonsense, child. Professor Snape helped set up the protections in the third floor corridor and is trusted by Headmaster Dumbledore. He's probably _checking_ the corridor."

Hermione didn't have an answer for this. It was possible, but it didn't _feel _right. But she was a professor, right? They'd know… and well, the others—

"Professor?" she asked softly. McGonagall had gone very still and grabbed her wand.

"Go to your common room right now, Miss. Granger. And stay there." She quickly moved out of her classroom and pushed the young first year in front of her towards the stairs, just as the stairs from the fourth floor detached from the third floor , moving to another side of the castle, cutting her off from the growling she heard and feared on the third floor.

ooOOoo

"What is this?" Ron wailed. "Aaargh! It's tightening around me!" Harry gasped as another tendril wrapped around his throat.

"It's Devil's Snare!" Neville said. "Don't struggle—stop struggling, it'll just get tighter if you do!" As he forced his muscles to relax, he felt himself be dragged down.

"Neville!" Harry and Ron cried.

"Do as he says." Leevi said as he was dragged down as well.

The two of them looked up at the mass of vines and the kicking legs of the other two boys. "They didn't listen, did they?" Neville asked worriedly.

"Nope." Leevi pointed his wand up, aiming at the area between the boys. "Maybe this way it'll drop them both at the same time. Incendio."

ooOOoo

"Ooooh—" Christelle dove out of the way as the werewolf lunged at her. She came up in a roll and tucked her wand behind her ear for safekeeping. "Okay, let's see how you play with another wolfie." And she transformed into red wolf. She lept around the werewolf, taking a moment to congratulate herself on her first animagus transformation. Seeing the werewolf take another lunge at her, she bared her fangs and growled, tensing her muscles to leap.

ooOOoo

Outside, Moony, Padfoot, and Prongs were running around the lake when suddenly Moony stopped and sniffed the air. He howled into the air as Prongs swung his massive head inquiringly. Moony sniffed the air again and tore towards the castle, Padfoot and Prongs at his heels.

ooOOoo

McGonagall followed Hermione to the Gryffindor common room and addressed the prefects inside.

"Get all the students together. I want an official head count. No one leaves this tower, and if anyone comes in, they _stay in here_." She conjured a patronus to send a message to the heads of houses and other professors. She walked out and addressed the Fat Lady in charge of the entrance. "Please communicate to the rest of the portraits—all students need to return to their common rooms if possible. Otherwise, to move to the Great Hall. _No one_ must go near the third floor!"

"Professor, what's going on?" A third year asked.

"It's a security precaution, dear. Stay inside." She said as she moved down the stairs. At the same time, a werewolf, a grim, and a majestic stag crashed through the front doors.

ooOOoo

Staying away from the werewolf's jaws was proving to be quite a feat. At least she'd managed to distract it from the door and towards the stairs. She wasn't sure she could keep it up for very long though, she had already sustained some bruising on her ribs as he had tossed her off of him when her fangs and gotten close to his jugular. Even though she hit the wall quite painfully, she found it quite satisfying that she'd gotten that close. She wasn't used to fighting in this form though, and it was starting to show. Damon had gotten a few strikes on the werewolf which had slowed it somewhat, but apparently not enough.

Another lunge, snaping of jaws—the edge of the staircase, and she was down, rolling down the stairs, trying to get her footing and keep an eye on the werewolf. She regained her footing halfway down the stairs and leapt frantically upwards as the werewolf had decided to go back down the corridor. She chased after him, claws digging into the stone floor, and leapt snarling unto his back. Unfortunately, she overshot a little and it took only a little effort on her adversary's side to knock her down and he stood over her, pinning her down. She panted in fright and tried to struggle, but couldn't seem to get away. A blur—and something knocked the werewolf off of her. She looked over and would have smiled if she could. Lupin had joined the fray.

ooOOoo

"Flying keys?"

"Come on, Harry, we got this one." Leevi pointed to the brooms on the side of the wall.

"You're looking for a big silver one." Neville said, studying the lock. Ron joined him.

"Yeah, probably not too complex a design." Ron said. "What? Fred and George gave me some lessons in picking locks last year."

"Right." Harry smiled, mounting a broom.

"That one." Leevi pointed out the key and they flew towards it.

Once past the doors…

"Chess set?" Harry asked increduouly. "Ron, this is all you." The others nodded.

"All right." He gulped. "Neville, you can take a knight. Harry, that bishop. And Leevi—"

"I'll take the queen." Leevi said, stepping up.

"Right."

ooOOoo

McGonagall moved down the stairs but the set connecting the third and fourth floors was still swinging ambivalently. Her eyes narrowed and she changed to her animagus form and lept onto the swinging banister and rapidly down the stairs. As she approached the third floor corridor, she quickly switched back. The fight was a whirl of fur, claws, and fangs. She decided to protect the rest of the school first and put up a ward around them to keep them from moving too far off the corridor.

_Who was the red wolf? _ Sirius wondered. At least they knew now why Moony had scrambled to the castle—he must have caught the scent of the other werewolf.

Prongs stepped lightly away from a snake that laid coiled in front of a door. _Was that one of the twins' snakes? What was it doing here?_

Padfoot snarled and together with Moony lunged at the other werewolf's right side as the red wolf snapped at his heels, effectively driving the werewolf to the edge of the ward towards the stairs, intending to move it outside.

McGonagall misinterpreted the action and showered a rain of silver bullets from her wand. They wouldn't be enough to kill either werewolf, but enough to incapacitate them and take them into custody. A couple hit the lone werewolf as the ward came down and a howl sounded outside from the forest. The werewolf scampered down the stairs and outside. A whimper made Prongs step up to the other fighters. The red wolf held its front left paw off the ground, blood dripping from a wound. She limped towards the werewolf and carefully took an ear into her mouth and tugged. Moony looked at her with wide amber eyes and followed her limping form into a used classroom. Padfoot and Prongs followed. McGonagall followed discreetly after closing the entrance doors with a wave of her wand and locking it with another.

Christelle switched back. James quickly did the same, while Padfoot stayed with Moony in a corner of the room.

"_Christelle??"_ James said incredulously, quickly moving towards her to bandage up her shoulder.

"You have to get Uncle Remus out quickly." She gasped. "McGonagall is on her way." She moved to the wall, drawing a circle of runes on the wall and tapping the middle. She murmered a few words and sighed as a hole appeared. "Go on, that should take you to the Forbidden forest somewhere."

"Somewhere?"

"Wherever the castle decided." She leaned on the wall. "Go, I'll stall her."

"No, you're hurt—" they heard steps outside the door and telling clicks of a unlocking charms being made on the door.

"Do you want to explain one animagus or more?" Christelle said sharply, stabbing at the air in the hole. "Go." Moony and Padfoot moved through the doorway and James put a foot in hesitantly. "You can come back after he's safe and check up on me and not blow anyone's cover. I promise. And thanks for the help." She said softly and smiled at him, pushing him through with her good hand and closing the door.

James wondered how he let himself be maneuvered by an eleven year old girl as he followed his friends down the tunnel.

ooOOoo

"Ron, you can't—"

"It's the only way, Harry!"

"He's right." Leevi said gloomily. Why couldn't they be better at chess anyway? Someone always ended up having to get hurt.

The majestic chess pieces were moved, the game was won, and Harry opted to stay with Ron as Neville and Leevi walked to the next challenge.

ooOOoo

Christelle disillusioned herself and slipped out the door when McGonagall finally undid her locking charm and opened the door. She had no real intention of distracting the professor when she could be helping the others. She picked up Damon on her way down the hall and discreetly entered the room to face Fluffy.

ooOOoo

"A riddle." Leevi said gloomily. "It _had_ to be a riddle. This one must have been set by Snape."

"I wish we'd brought Hermione." Neville said wistfully.

"Come on, we can decipher it." He read the directions carefully. They seemed to be the same from the last one and if he could only remember which flask—and then he noticed that only one had been disturbed from the set in front of them. He smirked. "Or, we could just take the one those before us have used." He said, indicating the bottle half uncorked halfway up the line of vials.

Neville smiled at him, glancing at the riddle. "Yeah, that seems like a good guess. But there's only enough for one."

Leevi debated it. He wasn't the Boy Who Lived anymore. This was Neville's quest. And there had to be another way past the stupid flames, he'd figure it out, but someone needed to go forward. But he had so much more experience backing him—he shut his eyes and handed Neville the bottle. "I'll get help and come back as soon as I can." Christelle is going to kill me if something happens to him, he thought gloomily.

Neville nodded, drank the potion, and walked through the flames without a glance back. Leevi smirked at this and bumped the odds up for his friend and against his adversary. Neville was showing the Gryffindor backbone that had taken him a few years to gather last time. Then he frowned at the flames and set to trying different spells on it.

ooOOoo

Christelle stared at the silent harp and sent a charm to get it started again as she backed away to a corner. The scent of blood was making Fluffy try to stay awake. She silently conjured a violin and set it playing an accompanying tune, and the three headed dog sighed, put one of his heads on his paws and the other two on the floor and went back to sleep. She nudged the trapdoor open and slipped in.

The Devil's Snare aggravated her shoulder wound, but she remembered the story of how Harry, Ron, and Hermione had gotten through, so she forced herself to relax and soon found her way to the large doors and the flying keys.

"Honestly," she muttered. "I can't fly like this." She thought for a moment and shrugged with a smile. "At least I don't have an audience to worry about."

She sent an overall locking spell targeted at all the wings and every key dropped onto the floor. She stepped over them and sifted out the correct one. Whistling, she opened the door and passed on to the chess set.

"Harry! Ron!"

"Christelle!" Harry said surprised. "They went that way, down that corridor. I—I don't think you have to go through the chess set, Ron won the game, but—"

"He's okay, Harry." She said, after looking him over. "I think he hit his head pretty bad, but Madame Pomfrey should be able to fix him up real good. I think McGonagall is on her way, she'll take you guys out, okay? I'm going to find the others." She moved off before he could say another word.

ooOOoo

Neville walked in to find Professor Quirrel and Professor Snape arguing.

"Whose side are you on, Quirrel?" Snape muttered viciously.

"The same side you are on, Severus." The man with the turban sneered without a stammer, waving a hand towards his left forearm. "Now, you helped set this up. How do we get the stone?"

"What do you want the stone for?"

"Why, to bring our Lord back to his previous greatness, of course. Why did _you_ set out to get the stone?"

"Which Lord?" Snape asked, his wand out and eyes narrowing. "The one who got beaten by a baby, or the Lord that is arising?"

"_What Lord that is arising?"_ a third voice snarled. "_Who deems himself worthy to take my place?"_


	3. Evil Spirit

HP not mine.

First 25 chapters, look for "Maximus!" by padfootsrevenger.

A/N: Hmmm.. someone asked about ships. Ah, Luna/Neville has kind of been set up by padfootsrevenger and I see no reason to not continue it. As for HP/GW, maybe, but it'll be Harry, not Leevi. Opinions on this? Let me know, and your reasons too. The story is going to focus more on adventures than ships though they may play a part. It'll be a few more chapters before Ginny comes in.

Enjoy!!

--ooOOoo--

"Leevi?"

"Christelle! Are you all right?" He quickly moved over to his twin, noticing how she held her shoulder tensely. "What happened?"

"Werewolf, remember?" She winced. "It wasn't Lupin." His eyes widened.

"Are you all right?" He repeated.

She nodded. "Just a stray bullet from McGonagall. She needs to work on her targeting skills." He smiled. She might be hurt, but she was all right. "Where's Neville?"

"There wasn't enough of the potion—"

"And you let him go _alone_?" Yup, she was definitely all right. He winced. 

"Did you think I should have left him behind?"

Christelle sighed. "Okay, what have you tried to get past the flames?"

Leevi enumerated a few spells and charms.

"Really. Maybe _this_ will teach you to pay a little more attention when I tell you about runes." She said, raising an eyebrow. She took her wand and conjured a small knife. She took out a smooth pebble from her robe and cut a rune in it, then took the vial and poured a drop of the remaining liquid unto the stone.

"What's that?"

"It enhances the effects of the potion, but it'll only hold for a few seconds. Enough for us to run through, I'd think." He looked impressed. "Hermione and I went over the theory during my sixth year. You had the power, so we had to find other ways to compensate. Besides, the circle of flames is being held by a runic circle just on the other side of the fire." She said quietly as she pocketed the vial of potion and with a smile she levitated the stone such that the rune faced the fire. As soon as it touched the flames, it was as if a small curtain had parted it. Leevi followed her through, catching the stone as he passed through and shaking his head.

As they neared the door, they heard more voices than expected. Leevi stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "Would you stay here as back up? You're already hurt." To his surprise, she nodded.

"Stupid eleven-year-old body. Not used to this yet. Go get them." She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. Leevi bit his lip as he took in her stance. She'd gone through worse and knew she was a potential liability if it got heated in there, but he didn't want to leave her by herself.

"McGonagall was warned, she should be on her way." She whispered. "Go. If anyone comes out of there other than a Boy Who Lived, they're going to get stunned silly." She opened her eyes to smile crookedly at him.

He smirked and disillusioned himself before gliding through the barely opened door. He promised himself to find that errant werewolf and put a silver bullet through _its _leg. No one messes with a Maximus.

ooOOoo

Leevi quickly took in the scene.

Quirrel and Snape were arguing and dueling while Neville edged towards the mirror. Leevi clenched his teeth in exasperation. Gryffindor, Gryffindor, Gryffindor. He repeated in his mind. Well, he probably would have done the same if he was truly eleven. With his foreknowledge though, he'd have broken the mirror and ran. But then, this dueling and conversation would have gone unheard.

"Why are you fighting me?"

"Have you been so out of touch with the world in Romania, Quirinus? And who are you sporting around with you? There are more things afoot than you know of."

"_Have you forgotten your lord and master that has marked you, Severus?"_

"Master, he deserves not your attention. Save your strength!"

"Master?" Snape growled as he put up a shield against a stunner, causing it to reflect back at the suddenly lithe professor wearing a turban.

"_Get on with it!" _the third voice snarled. _"Are you so incompetent? Must I do everything myself?"_

At that moment, the Dark Mark still etched on Snape's forearm burned and he clutched his arm in surprise. It was all the distraction Quirrel needed to stun him and mutter a dark spell before turning to the mirror. And finding Neville.

Leevi cursed in his head. What was Neville _doing_?

"_Use the boy."_

Quirrel walked towards Neville and Leevi sought a better vantage point. From the door, he could only target the mirror but its shards could hurt Neville.

"Mr. Longbottom." _That_ seemed to snap Neville out of whatever trance he was in. Apparently, not enough.

"Professor." He turned back to the mirror, putting a hand up to it.

"What do you see?" Quirrel asked, gripping Neville's shoulder. His face looked pained but he answered quietly.

"My parents."

The steady stream of curses didn't end in Leevi's head. Neville hadn't seen the Mirror of Erised before so that would be his biggest desire—not that he didn't understand, but it was awful timing.

"_The stone. He is the key to getting the stone." _

Neville clenched his eyes shut and his hand clenched his chest. Leevi took aim of the back end of the turban and shot a silent cutting curse.

A scream of pain and Quirrel grabbed Neville around the throat. "Get me the stone!" But his hand was burning, turning black, and he quickly released Neville. The boy ran to the other side of the room, tripping over the mirror, causing it to fall.

"No!!" the anguished cry tore through the older man.

"_We are not alone. There is someone else here! Stop them—stop the boy, he must have the stone!"_

Quirrel said an incantation and frigid blue fire encircled the room. Neville stumbled back and raised his wand against his professor. Leevi threw another cutting hex at the man's leg as he tried to get to Neville. Quirrel spun around and muttered a counter to invisibility and disillusionment spells, followed by a blasting curse Leevi barely had the chance to evade. He was rolling back to his feet when Neville cast a binding curse on Quirrel. Unfortunately it missed and Quirrel spun around to grab the boy behind him, causing his other hand to burn. Neville stumbled away towards Leevi.

"Remember the _reducto_ curse?" Leevi whispered.

Neville nodded. "On three."

And they proceeded to blast Quirrel to oblivion.

Leevi grinned as his old nemesis disintegrated before them, but frowned when the familiar dark mist that was Voldemort swirled out the door. The flames died down quickly and he dragged Neville towards the door, where he found Christelle on the ground, convulsing.

ooOOoo

After following Moony and Padfoot to the Shrieking Shack, Prongs turned around and headed back to the castle. He changed back to his usual appearance once on site and hurried to the Infirmary, expecting to find Christelle there. When he didn't find her and learned from Poppy that McGonagall had locked down the school but hadn't sent any students her way, he headed back to the third floor in time to see the Deputy Headmistress lead Harry out of a room, floating Ron Weasley behind her.

"Minerva!"

"James, thank goodness."

"Dad!" Harry ran to his father. James clutched him close and looked him over for injuries.

"What have you been up to? Where's Christelle?"

"James, if you could, please take your son and Mr. Weasley to the Infirmary? It seems that I need to go back and retrieve some other students."

"Dad—please—you have to help, Leevi, and Neville are still in there, and Christelle went after them—"

James looked at his son. Explanations could come later. "I'll take you two to the infirmary, and then come back and follow Professor McGonagall, all right?" He turned around to lead them back downstairs as she turned towards the mysterious door.

ooOOoo

Neville was shaken from the confrontation with Quirrel, but Leevi was more worried about Christelle.

"Help me Neville!" the other boy quickly knelt down next to him. "Pin her legs down." Leevi climbed onto her chest, pinning her shoulders down with his knees to grab her head between his hands. "Christelle! _Christelle!"_

She opened her eyes and he could see a swirling blackness around the green that resembled his. "He's trying—" she clenched her jaw and her eyes shut, shaking her head.

Leevi's heart rate skyrocketed. They'd forced Voldemort from Quirrel's body and not nearly as efficiently as burning it had when he'd faced him alone. Was the bastard trying to get to his _sister?_

"Christelle. _Christelle! _Open your eyes. Let me in."

She shook her head jerkily.

"Luna," he whispered. "I've done this before. Let me in. We can get him out together." A few short breaths later, she nodded and opened her eyes.

He didn't even bother with a wand. Looking into her eyes, he whispered, "_Legilimens."_

Her mind shields were impressive, but crumbling. He could feel where Voldemort was trying to carve a hole into himself but there was something thwarting him. Leevi noted with a satisfied smile that Christelle was fighting back, throwing fragmented memories and swirls of lines of fate around him—the chaos that he'd sensed once when he tried to read her during his Legilimency training during the war. Her natural shield would thwart readers, but this was an attempt at active capture. He threw his own walls up to help bolster hers, clutching the dark tendrils that were Voldemort and pulling them away from her. Visions of thestrals stampeded across the surface as they backed the tendrils away from other areas of her mind. Light blurs of beings with wings flitted by the edge of his eye as encircling the tendrils reaching upwards. His wall pushed at the mass, his mind and defense mechanism being architectural in contrast to Christelle's animated ones. The form of her mind really shouldn't have surprised him. Finally, they called on a snowstorm together, and the whirling mass of white cutting icicles and snow twirled the dark essence out.

Neville shrieked as a dark cloud seemed to burst from Christelle and fly away through the walls. She stopped convulsing.

Leevi's shoulders sagged as he let his sister's head rest on the floor and he climbed off of her, just in time to see McGonagall rush through the wall of flames. He looked down at his knee and realized he had aggravated his sister's shoulder wound but he'd take that any day over having that bastard in her head.

"Snape's in there." He said tiredly to the Deputy Headmistress as she knelt next to Christelle.

"_Professor _Snape." She corrected, shaking her head and standing up. "Her vitals are all right, but we will take her to Poppy as soon as I see to the Professor. You all have a lot of explaining to do." She said as she stepped over the doorway and gasped at the sight of the broken mirror.

Christelle opened her eyes. "Hey there, sis." Leevi said softly, cradling her head and looking intently into her eyes. "How're you feeling?"

Bright green eyes looked at him with a smile. "Couldn't stun a spirit." She murmured, before closing her eyes again. He smiled and looked up at Neville. 

"She'll be all right."

ooOOoo

James sat with the children in the infirmary. When McGonagall had stepped out levitating Christelle and Snape, he had quickly offered to take the girl, his eyes narrowing at her aggravated wound and Neville's shell-shocked, pale face. Leevi looked more in control, but he stayed close to his sister.

"I've firecalled Albus back from the ministry. He should be back shortly." He stated.

Harry hurried over to stand next to his friends just to be pushed out of the way by Madame Pomfrey. "What happened?" she asked, as she cast diagnostic spells on Christelle and Snape.

"They were on the third floor corridor." McGonagall answered curtly, as Dumbledore walked in.

"Her wounds will be easy enough to heal, but Professor Snape is under something more sinister. At least his condition is stable."

"Albus, you had a three-headed dog on the grounds? What possessed you to do such a thing?" James demanded. Madame Pomfrey glared at him.

"You can take that conversation elsewhere young man, these children need tending and quiet! Tsk! Tsk!" She waved her wand at Christelle's shoulder while Leevi watched intently. "She's going to need a blood replenishing potion and some rest, but she'll be all right, Mr. Maximus." She nodded in his direction. "What about you?" she asked as she moved over to check him.

"James, Minerva, shall we adjourn to my office? We will speak to the children later."

"Headmaster?" The three adults turned towards Neville. Leevi watched as he pulled the Philosopher's stone out of his pocket. "You might want to keep this."

ooOOoo

Everyone was well on the road to recuperation by the next afternoon. Madame Pomfrey insisted on keeping Christelle and Ron in the Infirmary, but allowed the others to attend the headmaster's summons. Snape was still out, and she was wondering if she would need to call in a specialist from St.Mungos, for what he was under was something she hadn't encountered before.

Leevi, Neville, and Harry walked up to the gargoyle.

"What did he say the password was?" Neville asked nervously.

"Snickerdoodles." Harry said, as the gargoyle jumped out of the way. Leevi sighed as they stepped in. This was going to be interesting.

"Hello boys! Lemon Drop?"

"No, thank you." Leevi said immediately, sitting down stiffly. The other two boys looked at him quizzically and each accepted one, their mouths puckering as Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.

"The school is very lucky to have three Gryffindors like you, who would take your duties for the greater good so seriously. Thank you for helping in the efforts to keep the Philosopher's Stone safe." He smiled at them and conjured a set of tea and biscuits. "Please, I must insist on you telling me what happened that night. I'm so sorry for not being here when the school needed me the most." Harry and Neville picked up the tea as soon as the Headmaster had taken his cup. Harry dished out two cubes of sugar for his while Neville reached out for a cookie. Leevi took his cup but simply held it in his hand.

"Well, we were just going downstairs for a bite to eat, when we saw Professor Snape in the corridor!" Harry started. "Hermione went to tell Professor McGonagall but we decided to follow the professor. We'd noticed him acting weird and all, near the corridor, and we'd figured out about the Stone." Dumbledore nodded sagely.

"I hope you all know that Professor Snape is someone we can trust. He helped set up the defenses for the stone. I'm sure you went through the potions section?" he asked.

Neville nodded. "Harry and Ron stayed back at the chess set, but Leevi and I moved forward. I ended up taking the potion and going ahead."

Dumbledore looked at Leevi. "And you, Mr. Maximus? Did you stay behind?"

"There wasn't much potion left," he replied carefully, "so I debated going back for more help or following Neville." Neville's brow furrowed, he was sure that there hadn't been enough potion for both of them, that's why he'd gone first. Now that he thought about it, he didn't know how Leevi and Christelle had gotten past the flames. Leevi wasn't meeting his gaze though, so he decided to ask him about it later.

"More tea? Biscuits?" Dumbledore asked kindly. Harry gladly took a biscuit, but Neville declined a refill. His stomach was feeling a little queasy. Dumbledore watched Leevi ignore the cup in his hands. A small brush of Legilimency showed that Mr. Potter and Mr. Longbottom were quite calm and trusting, but Mr. Maximus was—just a little tense.

"So what happened in the last chamber?" Dumbledore asked, when it finally seemed that Leevi wasn't going to volunteer information on how he got past Snape's challenge.

Neville proceeded to tell him, and Dumbledore only interrupted long enough to ask him to later give him a copy of his memory so he could study it to find the countercurse for Professor Snape, who was still in the Infirmary.

"Professor Dumbledore, Professor Snape and Professor Quirrel were arguing about two dark lords. I—I know one of them is You-Know-Who, I think that was who was with Professor Quirrel, but—is there someone else?"

Leevi's head snapped up at hearing this. This was news.

Dumbledore noted Leevi's reaction quietly in his mind. The boy was too young to preoccupy himself with dark Lords… unless… "No, of course not. Presently, we only have a shadow of a dark Lord to worry about thanks to you, my dear Mr. Longbottom. Thanks to you and your parents. Would you tell me how you got the stone?"

"I didn't understand it, Headmaster." Neville answered. "In the mirror, I saw my parents—and they gave it to me. Put it in my pocket."

"Ah, yes." Dumbledore leaned back into his chair. "That was my challenge, you see. Only one that wanted the stone but not to use it—only such a one could get the stone out of the Mirror of Erised. Mr. Maximus, did you play a part in the rescue of the stone?"

"Not much, Headmaster," Leevi replied softly. "I threw a couple of curses to try to distract the Professors so Neville and I could head out, that's all." Dumbledore nodded.

"Well, thank you boys. Harry, Leevi, I'm sure you're wanting to go outside now, it's a beautiful day. I have a few things to tell Mr. Longbottom, after which he will surely join you." Harry stood up immediately, Leevi following a little more sedately. When they were past the door, Dumbledore turned to Neville. "Ah, Mr. Longbottom, before I forget—would you mind sharing your memory with me?"

ooOOoo

Dumbledore fell out of the pensieve and stroked his beard. A couple of good things about watching the memory was that he now knew what countercurse to use for Severus and it seemed that Voldemort hadn't been aware of the international social unrest that had been muttering behind rumors the last five years. Unfortunately, he might be paying more attention now, Severus had overplayed his hand. Meanwhile, Leevi Maximus had been an impressive leader throughout that night, although he also saw Neville Longbottom take impressive steps towards tackling important tasks. By the end of the confrontation with Quirrel, he had thought that maybe his worries were unfounded—afterall, the boy now had a family to belong to and children he had befriended. Perhaps they could be trained together to fight, Maximus at the right hand of Longbottom. But what worried him the most was that last vivid scene in the memory involving another young student he hadn't put much thought on. Madame Pomfrey or not, he needed to question the Christelle Maximus and search for signs of possession. He nodded to himself as he opened a drawer at his desk and drew out two vials. She might be more pliable than her brother with information as well.

ooOOoo

A/N: dun dun dun…

How're you liking it so far?


	4. Werewolf Hero

Disclaimer: Thank goodness for JKR and her imagination. Where would we all be without Harry Potter?

A/N: Plot bunnies galore! They won't let me sleep. Seriously.

Christelle does have some occlumency training from the war, but her main defense is the way her mind is structured. Does it bother people that I haven't copied over the first 25 chapters from padfootsrevenger? If it affects your reading experience, I'll look into it. The idea of posting someone else's work--even if I cite them as authors--just felt kind of weird to me. Thanks for your reviews!

--ooOOoo—

Leevi wanted to return to the Infirmary to speak with Christelle. Dumbledore seemed to wave off the second threat implied by Snape's words but he wasn't going to discount anything that important with as much ease. Unfortunately, James and Lilly found them first.

"Harry! Leevi!" Lilly came forward and enveloped them in a hug. "Are you all right?" Harry nodded, only letting himself lay his head on his mother's shoulder for a moment. Leevi felt warm all over. Last time, no one had been there to look out for him.

"We were just heading outside." Harry said.

"Actually, I was going to go to the Infirmary and visit Christelle." Leevi interjected.

James thought the kids looked too peaky and stressed. "We just came from there—she's sleeping and Madame Pomfrey kicked us out." He gave them a little smile. "Why don't we take a little walk outside and you can visit Christelle after she's had a chance to nap?"

Leevi nodded as they walked out the doors, just as Dumbledore turned the corner to head to the Infirmary.

ooOOoo

"Miss. Maximus." Dumbledore whispered softly.

Christelle ignored him and kept right on pretending she was asleep.

"_Ennervate."_

Christelle frowned in her mind as she let her eyes flutter open. Well, all right, if you insist.

"Headmaster Dumbledore." She greeted hoarsely.

"Miss Maximus." Dumbledore greeted with a smile. "It is good to see you doing so well. Would you like some water?" she accepted, but noted the deceptively light acidic twinge in the drink. Her eyes glazed over.

"Very good. Let's start with something simple, shall we? What's your name?"

Christelle's mind buzzed and lightly she noted that someone had asked her a question. Such a simple question, really, but how to answer? She recognized being under Veritaserum, but this was a little different. A new concoction of the headmaster's perhaps? Oh yes, the question. Well, there were so many ways to answer the question…

Dumbledore frowned. Severus's new version of veritaserum shouldn't have an impact on the subject's response rate but Miss Maximus was certainly taking a while to simply state her name. Just as he was going to ask the question again, her lips moved and she answered.

"My name is Christelle Maximus."

Unbeknownst to Dumbledore, a small translucent bead had detached from her hair as an unseen breeze swept the Infirmary and headed towards the open window.

ooOOoo

Leevi smiled as he flew lazily over the top of the pitch. Harry and his father had convinced him to go flying with them for a little while. It was good to do something other than think about what had happened last night. Harry and James were tossing a quaffle back and forth when Leevi saw a small glinting object from the edge of his eye. Seeker reflexes took over and his head whipped around as he brought the broom sharply to turn after it.

"Leevi?" James called, then motioned Harry to land as he did the same. He told his son to stay with Lilly as she walked up to them, then headed back on his broom to follow Leevi.

Leevi knew it wasn't a snitch, it wasn't something he had to catch, but it compelled him to follow. As soon as he realized that they were rounding the left tower of the castle, he realized where he was headed. The Infirmary. Christelle! He nudged the broom to pick up a bit more speed, then tumbled off at the side doors and ran into the castle. James followed moments after.

ooOOoo

"What were you doing outside the third floor corridor last night?"

Thirty seconds later…

"Trying to keep everyone safe."

"Did a dark spirit possess you last night?"

Twenty seconds later…

"There was a dark, foreign presence in my mind last night."

Dumbledore leaned forward. "Do you feel it's presence now?"

"No."

"How did you detect it's presence?"

Twenty seconds later…

"It felt remarkably like an infestation of nargles."

Dumbledore sat back, his brow furrowed, but eyes twinkling. "An infestation of nargles?" That was… the kindest thing he'd heard anyone say about Voldemort for a long time. He chuckled as he asked his next question.

"How did you evict him from your mind?"

"I had help, of course."

"From whom?"

Another pause.

"Friends. Thestrals, rockspurs, wimbles—well, I like to call them wimbles." She turned to look at him with her glazed eyes. "Their name is much too complicated for the human tongue to pronounce, you know."

Dumbledore leaned forward. "Have you or your brother dabbled in the Dark Arts?"

ooOOoo

Leevi ran into the Infirmary and saw Dumbledore sitting next to Christelle, leaning forward as if eager to hear what she had to say. His jaw clenched. As he got closer to her, he noted the relaxed posture of her shoulders contrasted with the tensed neck and glazed eyes. Had the headmaster gone so far as to _drug_ her? He closed the gap between them by jumping onto the bed and greeting them, forcing a relaxed smile onto his face.

"Christelle! You're awake!"

His sister turned her head and glazed eyes met his bright green ones. "Indeed." He could see the murkiness clearing up. They had trained and become less susceptible to veritaserum during the war, but that aspect of their training may not have been carried over into their young bodies. On the other hand, they had trained mentally to evade answering questions while under duress, and those lessons certainly remained with them. Dumbledore probably hadn't gotten too much out of her, but he wasn't going to let him ask another question.

"Leevi!" James called from the door. His steps quickened when he saw Dumbledore there too.

"Now, Mr. Maximus, your sister and I were having a pleasant conversation… and I'd just asked her a yes or no question. Please answer the question, Miss Maximus."

Christelle paused. The veritaserum was wearing off, and her memories of what he'd asked her seemed kind of hazy. An extra aspect of the potion that would make the subject forget about the interrogation? A likely and worthy pursuit for the school's potion master, for sure.

"I'm sorry, Professor Dumbledore, I don't recall your question." She looked at him with her head tilted to one side, eyes open wide. "Would you care to repeat it?" she asked, just as James walked up to them.

Dumbledore's eyes narrowed imperceptively. The potion should not have worn off so quickly. His thoughts went to the second vial in his robes. He hadn't used the antidote which Severus had said would be needed to bring the subject out of the effects of the serum. He was going to have a word with Potions Master about his so-called "improved" veritaserum. "Oh, nothing of great importance, I'm sure." He looked up and smiled. "James. How are you doing today?"

"Very well, headmaster." James replied carefully. "Brought Lilly to see the kids after all the commotion last night."

"Wonderful, wonderful. Ah, I see Poppy hasn't managed to wake up our esteemed Potions Professor. I'll see if I can give her a hand, shall I? Enjoy your visit." He said amiably and ambled off.

"Christelle." James said fondly, giving her a careful hug. "How are you feeling?"

"Better, Uncle James, thanks for inquiring."

He nodded thoughtfully. She spoke up as he was about to ask a question. "Would you mind if we talked more when Madame Pomfrey has cleared me to leave the Infirmary?" she asked him softly. "Conversations tend to live on in these walls past their utterance."

James blinked. Conversations what? Oh, she didn't want to be overheard. That made sense actually, and besides, he knew for a fact that Moony and Padfoot would want the story as well. He smiled sheepishly and launched into a story of how Dorian and Jasmine were already planning for their siblings' arrival for the summer holidays.

A small light traveled up a tendril of Christelle's dark hair. Christelle smiled as she tucked her hair behind her ear, fingers lightly brushing the small translucent bead.

ooOOoo

"All right, you may stay. I'll have the house elves send you dinner." Madame Pomfrey reluctantly agreed.

"I'm really feeling quite all right, Madame Pomfrey." Christelle said smiling. Poppy gave her an inquisitive look but nodded as she replied.

"You let me be the judge of that tomorrow morning, dear." She replied, walking to her office.

"Now, give me the scoop." Leevi climbed onto the bed next to his sister and whispered conspiratorially.

"Which part? The animagus transformation, or Dumbledore's new and improved veritaserum?"

"Animagus transformation? You did it?!" his eyes widened in excitement. "Really? What was that like?"

"Well, I didn't get a chance to think about it too much. Werewolf breathing down my neck and all." Leevi smirked at her answer.

"Aww, come on…"

"I couldn't take him as a girl, so it was due to necessity. I'm sure you can do it too. In fact, I'd be interested to see if you can go from one animagus form to the other without turning back into your human body." Christelle paused. "I've never heard of anyone with two forms. Dumbledore doesn't have one, did you know?"

Leevi's left eyebrow rose. "And how would you know that?"

She shrugged.

"Well, he'd probably be a bee, with how annoying he's getting. And meddlesome." He grumbled. "With a nasty sting."

"Anyway," Christelle said with a shrug, " it was all in good fun—especially after the Marauders came in--until McGonagall came along with her silver bullets. I need to learn that spell."

"Back up, back up—I want to hear about the Marauders…"

She smiled at him. "It was quite a sight really. I'll show you in the pensieve, although I'd bet the old cat got a better look than I did. I think they just charged through the front doors, all three of them. The other werewolf had me pinned, but Moony threw him off. Padfoot, Moony, and I drove him back while Prongs stood guard at the door. Don't know how he knew to barricade the door, but his antlers definitely got in handy a couple of times. Hmmm… might need to talk to him about almost stepping on Damon though, that would not have been very nice."

"I'm definitely going to watch your memory of the fight."

"You feeling like you were missing out on all the action?" This time, it was her eyebrow that was raised.

"A little." He shrugged as he leaned back against the headboard. "More like I wanted to see Prongs, Padfoot, and Moony_ in_ action."

"I can understand that." She said.

"So what's this about the silver bullets?"

"I don't know who she wanted to hit—it seemed like all of us. Some sort of containment strategy probably."

"Did anyone else get hurt?"

"The other werewolf took a bullet or two, I think. Moony, Padfoot, and Prongs are fine. I had to transform back to let them out of the castle without getting caught by McGonagall though. We should do something to thank Hogwarts by the way. She led them straight from the third floor to the forest." She patted the wall behind the bed fondly.

"Hmmm. Okay, what about Dumbledore?"

"The veritaserum made my mind really hazy. And there was a weird taste to it, as if Professor Snape had dropped some grapefruit grinds into the cauldron while he made it."

Leevi smirked.

"What?" she asked curiously.

"Imagine Snape eating a grapefruit, stirring a cauldron with his other hand... And pieces falling in and him sneering, then telling Dumbledore—"

"that it was an improved version of veritaserum." She finished for him, smiling. "Makes him seem less daunting, doesn't it?"

"We should tell Neville, it would help him with his boggart, I'm sure." Leevi grinned, but Christelle shook her head.

"I don't think Neville's boggart would be Snape anymore, Leevi. It's all different. All changed. More than we thought it would be, isn't it?"

He sobered up. "Yeah. Albus wouldn't have gone to the lengths that this Dumbledore did."

"And McGonagall wouldn't have been so careless." They looked up as one when they heard a pop.

"Toby bring dinner for Master Leevi and Mistress Christelle." The small house elf snapped his fingers and a full dinner appeared for Leevi, and a hearty soup for Christelle.

"Thank you Toby." Christelle answered as Leevi gave him a gratifying smile and reached for his food. The little house elf looked around quickly and then smiled back. Christelle conjured a little piece of candy and handed it to him. Toby took it with wide eyes.

"It's true! Mistress Christelle gives house elves treats!"

"When you smile." She reminded him. He nodded vigorously as Leevi watched with interest.

"Thank you, kind Mistress Christelle!" he said as he popped away.

"Sweets for the house elves?" he asked inquisitively.

"Something I'm working on." She replied, pulling her soup towards her.

They were finishing up when Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville walked in.

"Hey, that's mine!"

"Aww, don't fret so much, I just took a little bit. You know pudding is my favorite." Christelle gave him her most winning smile as she swiped another spoonful from the small dish. Leevi tried to frown, but the edges of his lips twitched up a little.

"Hey guys!"

"Oh, are you all right?" Hermione drew up a chair next to the bed. "I knew I shouldn't have let you go alone! Madame Pomfrey said you'd hurt your shoulder." She looked at Christelle unhappily. "I came earlier but you were asleep."

Christelle nodded. "I'm all right. Leevi and Neville were the ones that had to confront Professors Snape and Quirrel."

"They told me about it—Fluffy, the Devil's snare, the chess set..." Hermione nodded. "But what I don't understand is how you got hurt—since you didn't follow them in until later anyways."

Christelle shared a look with Leevi. How were they going to explain the werewolf and—more importantly—how she was able to hold it off successfully?

"I heard a noise when we were walking in and stopped to investigate while the others went in." she said finally. "It turned out that there was a werewolf on the grounds, but the professors came and took care of the situation."

At that moment, Madame Pomfrey shooed them out for the night.

ooOOoo

The next morning, the usual morning babble was cut short as owls delivered the morning post.

The headline on the Daily Prophet read as follows:

_Werewolf attacks student at Hogwarts! Is the school safe for our children? Official inquiry from the Ministry to follow._

Harry's face paled as he looked to the equally stunned Remus sitting at the head table. An official looking horned owl flew in and landed in front of the Headmaster, delivering papers from the Ministry of Magic.

Outraged squabble emerged from the Slytherin table, but soon conversations about the possible identity of the werewolf and suppositions on how it got onto the grounds—and into the castle!—were rampant. The headmaster cleared his throat and made red sparks with his wand, catching the attention of the students.

"Rest assured we will get to the bottom of this and deal with the situation accordingly. Please attend your classes knowing that the teachers are on alert and will be patrolling the halls. You will be safe in this school." He announced as he stared at the DADA professor.

ooOOoo

James and Remus walked into the empty DADA classroom, Padfoot trotting along. As Sirius had no official reason for appearing at Hogwarts, he had accompanied James in his animagus form. Christelle walked in a few minutes later. James motioned her to join them at the front of the classroom as he set up silencing wards.

Padfoot padded over and sat at her feet.

"All right, young lady. We're all ears."

"What would you like to know, Uncle James?" she asked.

"How is it that you are an animagus?"

"I'm not quite sure. I've been reading up on it for a while, it seemed like a fun thing to do. That was my first transformation."

"And you just—did it? It took us, me—it took me a few years to master it myself." James corrected himself quickly. She hadn't seen Padfoot/Sirius transform, and they had agreed to keep it secret if possible.

Christelle shrugged. "I guess it was necessity that pushed it."

"You are a very gifted young lady, Christelle." Remus said.

"Leevi and I had a lot of training the last few years. We are a little more advanced in transfiguration and charms than other students here. Besides, they don't have a law against underage magic in America. Thank you for coming to help me by the way. Your forms are quite beautiful." She said as she leaned down to scratch behind Padfoot's ears.

"Do you know who the werewolf was?" James asked quietly.

"I know about Uncle Remus, if that's what you mean. I don't know who the other werewolf was or how it got in." Padfoot stiffened under her hands. She patted his head then propped up his chin to look into his eyes. "It's okay," she said softly. "I won't tell. Neither will the other students that have figured it out. We all like Professor Lupin as our DADA professor."

"How many people know?" James asked urgently as Remus struggled between feeling horrified and pleased at his students' knowledge and subsequent reaction. Not everyone would feel that way.

"Some Ravenclaws. A handful of Gryffindors and maybe a couple of Hufflepuffs. There is a tacit agreement to keep it quiet and field the stipulation away from the identity of the werewolf towards how it got on Hogwarts grounds. I'm afraid more than a few students are getting leery of Hagrid's Care for Magical Creatures class. Some students are worried that the Forbidden Forest houses a pack of werewolves. They all wonder how the werewolf got past the wards."

"Thank you." Remus said quietly, looking at her with new eyes. "You kids are doing a lot without anyone asking you to."

Christelle smiled. "We all have secrets, you know. Not bad ones, but secrets nonetheless. You're family and we'll help you keep yours."

ooOOoo

Two days later, Professor Dumbledore announced that he was going to take over the DADA class for a few days.

"Professor, I need to talk to you!" Harry called as he ran after the headmaster between classes. Christelle and Leevi were right behind him.

"Mr. Potter, unfortunately there are matters of utmost importance that—"

"But Uncle Remus—I mean, Professor Lupin—he didn't do anything!"

Dumbledore stopped in his tracks. "And you would know this, how? Mr. Potter? I hope you were untoward in your telling of the happenings on the third floor corridor when we spoke in my office yesterday."

Harry stopped, looking stumped. The headmaster waved them past the gargoyle and up the stairs into his office.

"I'm afraid there's nothing to do, Mr. Potter. The Ministry will fulfill their inquiry and they have the testimony of eyewitnesses—two students. One that saw the attack on another student, and the second that saw the werewolf run out of the school grounds. I hate to believe that Professor Lupin had anything to do with this, but he is the only one with such access to the school—"

"That doesn't mean he did it!" Harry interrupted. "You can't let them take him away like that!"

"He's also under accusation of hiding his lycanthropy from the Ministry in addition to what happened that night, Mr. Potter. I'm afraid his adamant refusal to register has landed him in much of a conundrum today."

"Professor Dumbledore," Christelle said. "I would like to be present during the Ministry's hearing for Professor Lupin."

"Why, Miss Maximus?"

"Because as the student that was attacked, headmaster, I believe I should be the one to tell the tale."

ooOOoo

The Wizengamot was assembled. Most members were there, since many had children that attended or had attended Hogwarts. On the other hand, there wasn't much of an audience other than that. The Minister had granted the witness's petition for a limited audience consisting of Albus Dumbledore, Madame Bones from the Auror office, Auror James Potter, and a selective group of reporters that had to swear an oath to not reveal the witness's identity, in exchange for questioning under veritaserum. Her answers came promptly this time.

"What is your name?"

"Christelle Maximus."

"Who is your closest blood relative?"

"My brother, Leevi Maximus."

"Where do you go to school?"

"Hogwarts."

"Thank you, Miss Maximus. Minister Fudge, you may proceed with the questioning."

"Miss Maximus. Where were you on the night of March 24?"

"In school."

"Where in the school?"

"On the third floor corridor."

"Why were you on the third floor corridor instead of in your room?"

"We saw something suspicious and decided to follow up on it. One of my friends went to get a professor, and the rest of us decided to keep going."

"Why didn't you just leave it to the professors to take care of.. whatever it was you were worried about?"

"We found it necessary."

"And were you attacked by a werewolf that night?"

"Yes."

"Where?"

"On the third floor corridor in Hogwarts."

"And that concludes my questioning, ladies and gentlemen! All that remains is to confirm the lycanthropy of Mr. Remus Lupin and—"

"But the werewolf that attacked me wasn't Professor Lupin."

"What?"

"The werewolf that attacked me was _not_ Professor Lupin. In fact, he saved me from the werewolf and helped inflict wounds upon it to make it run away, therefore, the werewolf that attacked me could not have been Professor Lupin."

"_What?_"

"Perhaps you should get your ears checked, Minister Fudge. Professor Lupin did not attack me, he _defended_ me. In my humble opinion, you should be comending the professor his heroism, and the headmaster should be awarding him for services to the school--not treating him like a criminal." Christelle turned to face Remus, who was standing with his hands shackled in front of him, two aurors at his sides.

Minister Fudge sputtered. Albus Dumbledore looked amused at the turn of events although now, he would need to look into who this werewolf was and how it had evaded the school wards.

Christelle stood up from the witness chair and walked over to Remus, taking his hands into her small ones. "Thank you for saving my life, Professor Lupin."

And with that, the silence over the crowd broke.

ooOOoo

While everyone was at the ministry, Leevi snuck away from the other first years and headed towards the headmaster's office under a disillusionment charm. Standing in front of the gargoyle, he listed off names of sweets until the gargoyle begrudgingly leapt aside. Once in the office, he checked the paintings to make sure their inhabitants were either out or sleeping, then took out a small mirror and set it up in a corner of the mantelpiece where Dumbledore kept a variety of seemingly random objects, partially hidden behind a silvery white globe. He had set up the communication earlier that morning, so all he had to do was whisper a charm to avoid any light reflecting off of it—something that could not be done ahead of time since it depended on targeting directions from where light might reach it. Once that was done, he crept silently out of the office.

ooOOoo

"You know, I don't understand why Dumbledore won't let Professor Lupin stay after this year." Hermione said mournfully. "He has been cleared of all charges, after all!"

"Yes, but Hermione—" Neville said, bringing out the day's Daily Prophet out of his bag and pointing out the second headline on the paper detailing the hearing and reactions to the false accusation against the DADA professor. "There's bad publicity linked to his name now. Even if he's cleared, parents will be anxious about the professor teaching a class."

"My mom was really worried when she read the first article." Ron admitted. "You know she has nothing against your uncle, Harry, I mean—they worked together against You-Know-Who and everything back in the day, but she was really jumpy. She looked pale and then red, and then pale again when she floo-called yesterday."

"But it's not _fair. _He's such a good teacher, werewolf or not." Hermione huffed as she sat down on one the common room couches, staring at the flames in the fireplace.

"_Hermione!"_ Harry whispered frantically.

"What?" she retorted softly. "You think no one noticed that he always looks like hell and misses a few days of classes once a month?"

"I didn't. Wait—what do you mean—?" Ron asked

Hermione shot him a look.

"Anyway, it might be better for Professor Lupin in the long run." Leevi said softly. He lifted his hands peaceably when Harry turned at him. "Listen, all right? Whether or not he is a werewolf, the fact of the matter is that if he stays there's going to be a few investigations about his past. No one is going to look further than rumors if they don't want to, and that could ruin his professional career—especially if he wants to keep teaching children. Better back off and wait for it to blow over."

"And if he didn't register," Hermione added quietly, "then he would get into boatloads of trouble now. And the Headmaster would as well, for exposing the students. And your parents for not turning him in. I don't like it either, but it might be best for Professor Lupin to lay low for a while."

"All right, I won't make a fuss." Harry said, looking defeated. "But what will he do? He's always had a hard time getting a job and he really liked this one."

"Oh, don't worry Harry." Christelle said brightly. "I'm sure something will come up for him."

ooOOoo

When Remus Lupin appeared for breakfast the next morning, the Great Hall fell silent. Slowly, but steadily, the clapping started and eventually, grudgingly, even the Slytherin house joined in.

ooOOoo

A/N: Okay, so this chapter focused more on wrapping up stuff from the previous one, but there'll be more plot development coming up. I'm working on it! Hope you guys liked this chapter anyway.


	5. Friends at Hogwarts

**Disclaimer: not mine, not mine, not mine.**

A/N: I haven't decided on ships yet. There'll most likely be some Ginny/Boy-Who-Lived drama but I'm not making any promises on how things'll turn out…

I'm not going to put up the first 25 chapters written by padfootsrevenger since it doesn't seem to bother most people to not have them here. It's in my Favorites, so it should only take you a couple clicks of your mouse to get to it for recap!

Thank you for your reviews! I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story.

ooOOoo

Dumbledore watched as Snape emerged from his pensieve.

"Headmaster, I truly did not believe the new veritaserum would affect the subject thusly." Severus said somberly. "In theory, it should act as I had previously explained… although Miss Maximus reacted relatively normally to the regular veritaserum at the hearing. I'll look into it again, sir."

"Thank you, Severus. I believe the memory charm may have worked however—she doesn't seem to harbor any bad feelings towards me from the questions I asked or the form of interrogation itself."

Snape nodded. "Albus, why was your first inclination to use the serum against the girl? Did you not believe she would have come to you with information on the possession? Your reputation is such that it would be a wonder if she didn't."

"The Maximus twins... are a mystery to me. Something tells me that there is more to them than meets the eye, and yet I can't get anything concrete out of them. And they have befriended Neville Longbottom, and nothing must come between the trust I'm forging between us. As for using the serum over more traditional techniques—I can't read either of the twins very well and patience has not grown with my age." He paused. "There is _something_ about them that isn't right and my instincts tell me its important… and yet it _eludes _me."

Snape lifted an eyebrow. Even though not quite up to par with himself, Dumbledore was a powerful Occlumens and Legilimens.

"I want you to keep an eye on those two, Severus." Dumbledore said, leaning forward in his chair. "I have a feeling it will be important to know where these youngsters stand in terms of the war."

Severus nodded. "Of course, Headmaster."

"Now, have you heard anything from your international contacts?"

"There are reports of some scholars gone missing and Durmstrang is uncharacteristically silent about it. A group on muggle-awareness has been picking up some attention in the Netherlands but it's nothing concrete yet."

Dumbledore nodded. "What of your House?"

"There are stirrings of unrest among some of the upper year students. Apparently some of the Death Eaters have been talking about the old days. There hasn't been a move to recruit new members though, and it is unclear if they know of the Dark Lord's attempt to return to power."

"Hmmm." He paused, looking at Snape thoughtfully. "Thank you Severus. Please keep me informed of anything you may notice out of the ordinary about the Maximus children."

"Yes, Headmaster."

Albus Dumbledore tapped his desk thoughtfully as the Potions Master stepped out of his office. He needed to talk to Minerva about those wards.

ooOOoo

Severus Snape walked back down to the dungeons and into his quarters, pondering his orders. Watch them, Dumbledore had said and watch them, he did. But the Maximus siblings seemed to be the usual Gryffindors, with perhaps a little less of a tendency to botch up their potions. When he tried to read Leevi Maximus, he found a tendency to protect his sister and a maddening interest for all things Quidditch. When he tried to read Christelle Maximus, he just got a headache. How could the girl walk around with so many random… _thoughts_ in her head? And a lot of nonsense about legendary magical creatures spun from old wives tales. It was a miracle that her potions weren't on the order of Longbottom or Potters. With nothing to report to the headmaster when the Easter holidays rolled around, Severus Snape turned his attention to his potions, the signs of a rekindling of the Death Eater community, and a strange invitation to Malfoy Manor which sported a small black raven next to the Malfoy crest.

ooOOoo

In the Gryffindor common room…

"Here." Hermione handed out slips of parchment. "This way, we can make sure we all get our studying done."

"Aaaw, Hermione!" Harry pouted. "You made _schedules_?"

"Well, yes. You'll be glad you followed them when exams come around, I assure you."

Harry sighed. "I can't wait until summer."

"You and me both, mate!" Ron said enthusiastically.

"How about you, Neville?" Christelle asked. "Excited about going home?"

"Not too much." He shrugged. "My uncle—well, actually he was my dad's cousin—is nice enough, but is really busy. Since he can't watch over me I won't get to do much, if any magic over the summer. He said if I got good scores in herbology he'd let me start a garden though, that should be nice." He half-smiled at the idea.

"Wait, you get to do magic over the summer if you're supervised?" Hermione squealed.

"So what does your uncle do?" Leevi asked at the same time.

Neville nodded at Hermione then answered Leevi. "I don't know really, some kind of business. He tends to gamble a lot."

"Does he win?" Ron asked cheekily.

"Not usually." Neville grimaced. "I know it's wrong since he's taking care of me and everything, but I sometimes wonder how much of my inheritance will be left when I come of age. But the worst is the stories he tells after he's lost some game or another—they're always about the war with You-Know-Who or with Grindelwald. At least they usually end up well when Headmaster Dumbledore steps in."

Neville was being hand fed hero stories of Albus Dumbledore? Leevi wondered if they were all true. "Hey, I'm sure he'd let you come visit us sometime over the summer right?" Leevi asked.

"Yeah!" Harry said energetically. You could all come by Potter Manor!"

"You could probably come visit the Burrow as well." Ron said with a smile. "I know my sister Ginny would looove to meet a certain someone." He said, smirking at Neville.

Christelle's eyes narrowed while Leevi's heart raced. Finally, an excuse to meet her.

"Well, maybe." Neville grinned at them. "That would be great, I hope he agrees."

"Ahem." Hermione tapped the schedule in front of her. "That's great and all, I certainly will speak to my parents about perhaps visiting you, but we really should get to… practicing charms." She read from the schedule. "Come on!"

Leevi helped Neville with some of the charms work as Hermione "corrected" Christelle on some wand movements. It was boring for them, but they needed to keep their cover so they tried to endure the boredom as well as they could. Christelle was intentionally changing the wand movements to see if she could get a different effect out of the charm, while Leevi was preoccupied thinking of Ginny. He had held off thinking about her but now that he had the possibility of seeing her soon, part of him wanted to jump with joy while another wanted to preach himself caution. He wasn't the boy he had been when he'd first met her, and for all he knew she wasn't the same Ginny as he remembered. His contradicting thoughts eventually led to a headache and he excused himself from the group and headed towards his room.

Christelle found her brother flopped on the bed, staring up at the canopy.

"Hey." She said, sitting at the edge of the bed.

"Hey." He turned to look at her, then looked at the ceiling again.

"You know, she used to have this big crush on the Boy Who Lived."

"Yeah, except that's not me anymore. Not here."

"And it was a crush built on childhood stories that Molly Weasley would recite to her as she went to bed. It wasn't until the end of first year that she realized that was a dream and started opening her eyes to the real person behind that title."

Harry turned to his side and looked at his sister. Dark hair, green eyes—and yet she was still the friend he'd grown close to when everything started to fall apart back home.

"Bet you didn't even notice when she started to notice other boys in her second year. She went through them like butter." Leevi snorted. Her second year, his third year—that had been a good year, all things considered. He'd had Remus, met Sirius… his thoughts faded as Christelle's voice continued softly. "And then she realized that she loved you because of who you were, and that no one else would do in the end. So she waited for you to notice her. And at that point it had nothing to do with the burden you carried on your shoulders."

He gave her a little smile. "So you're saying that this time, maybe I'll be the one that has to do some of the waiting?"

"Yeah." Christelle smirked. "And you might have to hold me back because if she starts getting all mushy about _my_ Neville—"

Leevi groaned and hid his head under his pillow. Christelle laughed and grabbed it out of his hands and pummeled his back. He conjured a second pillow and battled her until they were laying on the floor, grinning, loose feathers floating in the air.

"Hey," Leevi panted from the floor. "Don't you think it's been a while since the Bloody Phantoms pulled something off?"

She nodded. "Fred and George have been getting all the fun lately—although they are targeting individuals instead of the whole school."

Leevi smiled. "Come on, maybe we can get Ron and Hermione on in this one as well."

ooOOoo

Remus walked down Diagon Alley to Gringotts. Inside, he asked to see goblin Raxiel and showed the teller the note he had received the day before. As he waited, he pondered possible reasons for the goblins ask for a private meeting with him but couldn't come up with a single satisfactory one.

"Mr. Lupin." Raxiel greeted as he walked into the room. Remus stood up nervously. "Please, remain seated. I am here as a representative of Griffin Inceptum to offer you a position as a consultant for a couple of departments. Would you be interested in hearing the details of such a proposition?"

ooOOoo

Christelle sat in the library at the far side of a table where Terry Boot from Ravenclaw was studying from his transfiguration textbook. She reading a book on advanced rune work with the title carefully charmed to look like her herbology book when a first year Hufflepuff walked up to her.

"Ahem." She looked up curiously and laid her book flat on the table.

"Hi!" she said cheerfully as Madame Pince shushed at her from across the room. Christelle cringed good naturedly and waved at the seat next to her.

"Hi, Christelle, right?"

"Mmmhmm!"

"I… I was wondering if you'd help me with reviewing my charms? I noticed you were really good at it."

"Oh, sure!" Christelle said good naturedly. "We might not want to work here though, Madame Pince might get upset."

Hannah smiled and nodded. As they got up to leave, Terry got up as well.

"Hey, would you two mind if I join you?" He asked, twirling his wand idly. "It's kind of boring to practice charms on your own."

"The more the merrier!" Christelle waved him over and together. As they rounded a stack of books, Terry bumped into Millicent Bulstrode from Slytherin and her collection of books went sprawling.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Terry apologized, not even noticing who it was he'd knocked over and quickly helped pick up books.

"Watch where you're going, will you?" Millicent snapped.

"Hey, we were going to work on charms in an empty classroom. Want to join?" Christelle asked languidly, handing the girl a beginner's guide to charms pamphlet she'd dropped.

She looked at the group doubtfully, then glanced around nervously. No one else was nearby. "Okay." She shrugged, and the small group walked out of the library to find an empty classroom to practice in.

ooOOoo

Sirius Black frowned at the missive from Dumbledore. He had had plans for this weekend! Well, Italy could wait until after the Order meeting. He better set Kreacher to getting Headquarters ready.

A couple of days later, the fireplace at Number 12 Grimmauld Place flared green as witches and wizards flooed into the secret headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. Albus Dumbledore, leader of said group, sat at the head of the table in the dining room, waiting for everyone to arrive. He had refused to say anything to the owner of the house about the reason for the meeting until everyone had arrived.

"Thank you all for coming. First of all, does anyone else have any news to report?"

"Come now, Albus. There hasn't been any trouble for years. Why have you called a meeting?" Someone in the back asked.

"There are a couple of reasons. First of all, the Boy Who Lived has started this year at Hogwarts." There were appreciative murmurs among the crowd. "Second of all," Albus continued, holding up his hand for silence, "he has brought to my attention that Lord Voldemort is actively trying to return." Gasps ran through the crowd. Sirius, James, and Remus leaned forward in their seats, staring intently at the old headmaster.

"This summer, my friend and colleague Nicholas Flamel asked me to safekeep the Philosopher's stone in whichever way I felt was safest. For obvious reasons, I decided to keep it with me at Hogwarts and enlisted the aid of several professors to devise traps for anyone attempting to reach the stone. The safety measures were breached. Fortunately, the stone was recovered and our Boy Who Lived was able to vanquish the Dark Lord once more."

James frowned. It couldn't be, could it? At the school, Dumbledore had told him that they were indeed keeping the Philosopher's stone on the grounds, hence the warning to the students on the third floor corridor and the presence of the Cerberus to guard it. His eyes narrowed. What was this about Neville having faced the Dark Lord? He shared a worried glance with Remus. Sirius seemed troubled but he didn't seem to have made the link between the headmaster's announcement and the night they'd teared into Hogwarts in their Animagi forms.

After the uproar faded somewhat, Dumbledore continued speaking. "He drove away the Dark Lord who is now little more than a spirit shade. He will continue to look for a way to return completely, but in the meantime, preparation is paramount. The students are quite safe on the school grounds, but we must take precautions for Neville Longbottom's safety when he is away from Hogwarts during the summer vacation."

"Move him to a safehouse!" Auror Moody roared.

Albus shook his head. "We don't want to draw attention to him either. He is a child and deserves to live his childhood—we just need to monitor who he interacts with and make sure that he is safe at all times."

"Are you planning on leaving him with his Squib of an uncle then? Or could he stay with a more magical family?"

"I believe he needs to stay with his family." Albus said serenely. "Otherwise, the blood wards that were enacted upon Alice Longbottom's death would not protect him."

"Set someone to watch over them, then." Emmaline Vance suggested. "Plant someone in the neighborhood."

ooOOoo

"Snape has let up a bit." Leevi mentioned as he took out a letter they had received the previous day at breakfast.

"Hmmm, I was wondering how long it was going to take him to realize we're evading his Legilimency?" Christelle asked with a smile. "At this rate, perhaps I'll be able to discuss the characteristics of wrackspurt poison on the temperament of Red Caps with him."

"That's sinister. I was wondering if I was starting to repeat Quidditch facts in my head." He smirked. "It sure makes Ron a handy friend to have around." He skimmed through the letter. "It looks like Remus accepted the offer to visit the premises and they've completed the dragon-hide battle robes and some other fun toys at Griffin Inceptum. We should go try them out. Compare them to the originals."

Christelle nodded as she followed him up the stairs to lock up the reports in the hidden compartment in his trunk. "It might take some finagling with the Potters, but I'm sure you'll come up with something."

"Any news from the investigator?" Leevi asked as they headed to the Room of Requirements for some training before breakfast.

Christelle nodded. "The goblins found a good one. He doesn't ask any questions of us and is willing to do the work. His report on missing persons doesn't go into too much detail, but they seem like a random set of people. They don't hate muggles or all do dark arts, or anything like that so they probably aren't being recruited to Voldemort's side."

"What about signs of another dark lord?" Leevi asked, stretching.

"There seems to be a group of witches and wizards called the Ravens, who seem a little fanatical about learning what muggle advancements wizards need to circumvent. They have an 'end of days' type of propaganda, but they don't seem to be an overly organized group."

"We'll keep an eye on them anyway." He paused as the room provided him the targets he'd envisioned. "Shall we work on wandless shielding today?"

ooOOoo

Exams were soon approaching and the first years' study group had grown to include Christelle, Leevi, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Pavarti Patil from the Gryffindors, Hannah Abbott, Zacharias Smith, Susan Bones and Justin Finch-Fletchley from Hufflepuff, Michael Corner, Terry Boot, and Padma Patil from Ravenclaw, and Millicent Bulstrode and Blaise Zabini from Slytherin. They vetoed Hermione's well-planned schedule the second day (the Slytherins didn't even bother trying), but when she saw that they worked well in groups, she wasn't too upset. Besides, spending time with students from other Houses was really interesting—when House pride didn't get involved.

The group of students often split up into groups to work on different subjects, but members of the small groups would intermingle as they felt out whose strengths would complement their academic needs. The two Slytherins remained quite aloof, but Leevi sought out Blaise with questions and discussions of goblin battle tactics as they reviewed for History of Magic, while Christelle and Hannah drew out Millicent by working together on charms.

"What's it like in the Slytherin common room?" Leevi asked Blaise one afternoon. The young Slytherin looked up from his book.

"What do you mean?"

"Gryffindor is red and gold and boisterous, Ravenclaw I would bet has reading rooms everywhere, and Hufflepuff—well, I imagine they have plenty of nice couches and areas for large groups to socialize in. I was wondering what Slytherin's is like."

Blaise nodded thoughtfully. "Dark. Neutral colors."

"Doesn't sound too friendly."

"We don't come to school to make friends, we make contacts for our lives outside of school." Blaise replied.

"Huh." Leevi paused. "Am I considered a political ally?"

"Yes, you are a potential political ally, Maximus."

Leevi gave him a quirked smile. "You'd ally with a Gryffindork?"

Blaise sighed and put down his book since it didn't seem like he would get to go back to it anytime soon. "The world out there isn't run completely by Slytherins and the Maximus twins have earned the reputation of being level-headed Gryffindorks. Even if Malfoy is too blind to see the potential in cultivating an amicable relationship, not all of us are that short-sighted." He paused. "And there was what your sister did for Millicent."

"Huh?"

"Prank from the Weasley twins gone bad. Your sister bullied them into making reparations. You didn't know?"

Leevi shook his head, a small smile on his face. "She bullied them?"

Blaise snorted. "As a general rule, students from other Houses do not stand up for Slytherins. And she was able to do so without making it seem like Millicent couldn't stand up for herself. She has tact. Probably more so than most of your house put together. Some of us take note of such things."

"Hey, Zabini."

"Hmm?" Blaise had returned to his book.

"I hear they teach purebloods in Britain to fence. Want to give it a go?"

"And where would we do such fine an activity?" he asked, putting his book down at once.

And Leevi introduced him to the Room of Requirements.

ooOOoo

Leevi followed his sister out of Gryffindor tower. "Wouldn't the Room of Requirements work just as well?" he asked. It was a couple of days before the end of the term and a gloomy outside.

"No, we need to be in the Forest for this."

"Oh." Leevi gave her a sideways glance. "All right then."

Christelle led the way, transforming into wolf form once they were far enough away from the castle grounds, while Leevi threaded the branches above as a caracal, preferring his lightweight animagus form. He had completed both transformations the week after Lupin's hearing, but had not spent much time in the forest as a feline and was thoroughly enjoying his newfound quickness and balance. He dropped to the forest floor when Christelle stopped at a small clearing.

She transformed back and sat down with her legs crossed. Leevi moved in front of her and copied her position.

Christelle, who had her hair up in a loose braid, let her hair loose and ran her fingers through her hair, ending with her palm up between them, holding a small translucent bead. Leevi eyed the glinting round object.

"What do you think this is?" she asked quietly.

"A small… bead? Rock? Jewel of some sort? White—but not quite white, it shimmers… what is it? Something like that led me to the infirmary when Dumbledore was questioning you."

"Really? That's what you sense?" she got a distracted look in her eyes. "I guess you have Mage sight then."

Leevi gave her a questioning glance.

"The same way you passed parseltongue to me. Why don't you try lowering your occlumency shields a little, and see if you sense anything different?"

"But Christelle, what about Voldemort? I don't want him to feel the existence of two Boys Who Lived, that would just invite trouble. And chaos."

"He's hurting somewhere after his fight a few weeks ago, right? He won't be looking for a mental link to someone else. Just for a few moments Leevi, it's important."

He didn't look convinced, but he'd learned to trust her when it counted so he did as asked. He gasped. The forest around him was vibrating. Whatever was in Christelle's hands was no longer a static object, rather, it was fluctuating, hovering, and still shimmering a translucent array of lights.

"Put your shields back up." He did as she asked and the world seemed more manageable again.

"What was—all of that?" he asked, waving his hands at the air around him.

"Do you see them? Hear them? Feel them?" she asked intently.

He momentarily lowered his shields and tested it again, then shook his head. "I can see them, but don't hear anything. Feel? What are they supposed to feel like? What are they?"

"I was wondering if you could feel their presence. I can." She paused and smiled. "Did you ever believe me during my first years at Hogwarts? It's okay if you didn't," she added quickly, "but it just makes it more amusing now."

"I started to have my doubts of everyone's interpretation of you after I was able to see the threstals." He admitted. "I don't know if I believed you but I always kept wondering."

Her smile grew. "Well, that's a start. In my hands is a sylph. To me, he looks like a beautiful horse with wings with a translucent, white shimmering mane. He's flying about an inch above my hand." She paused. "He says hello." Leevi stared at the floating bead glinting in the sunlight and lowered his shields slowly. He wanted to sense its entire form, hear it, feel it's presence—but the forest was overwhelming. "Around us are pygmies, although they're mostly asleep. I tried to find some undines, but haven't heard back from them."

"Wait—sylphs, pygmies, undines—what?"

"Elemental beings. For air, earth, and water, specifically. I haven't been near any natural fires, so haven't been able to see if the fire salamanders are around."

"Couldn't I try seeing the sylph in a more… quiet place?"

"Oh, sorry." She stood up, brushing grass off of her skirt. Reaching into her robes, she withdrew five rune stones and positioned them in a pentagon around them. "Keep your shields up for a moment." She said, and proceeded to chant something in Celtic. Magic flared from the stones. "I think it'll shield your sight of magic outside the pentagram. This is the quietest clearing in the forest, Leevi. And if we'd stayed at Hogwarts… well, then you would have seen Hogwarts herself. Even if she's mostly dormant, she has quite a personality."

"You weren't kidding then? All the random stories that the furniture told you… wait, Hogwarts is _sentient_?"

"To a certain extent. Our Hogwarts definitely was… this one… well, she's awake enough to let us use the Room of Requirements, and the stairs still move. Anyways, she may be dormant, but she's still quite magnificent. Very bright, not very loud. I think you unconsciously formed a shield against magesight when you made your Occlumency shields. They can be separated so you can use the gift and keep Voldemort out of your head, but it might take some practice." Her eyes got a little dazed as she nodded at the sylph in her hands. "He says his name is Arion and we should call him that. He wants to stay with you." She held out her hand. Leevi lowered his shields a bit and watched the white essence move from her hand to his. On impulse, he dropped his shields, the feeling of mental vulnerability sending odd feelings of panic since he had adopted the habit of always having some sort of occlumency shield since the war had started in earnest. He was rewarded by a glimpse of the white stallion with feathery wings and a sheet of magic from the runes before he quickly pulled them back up.

"Wow." He breathed as he rubbed his temple with his free hand. "That gave me a headache." He looked up at his sister and grinned. "This is bloody awesome."

She smiled as Arion flew up to Leevi's messy hair and settled himself there. "It is, isn't it? Arion and some of the sylphs have volunteered to help us. It's not really their battle, but they're willing to volunteer information and aid as they see fit." She stood up. "Shall we head back and fetch a potion for your headache?" Leevi nodded.

She cancelled the charm on the runes with a swipe of her wand and placed them back in her pocket.

"Is it hereditary?" he asked as they started walking through the trees.

"In some ways. It can skip numerous generations, if I remember correctly. Sometimes it lays dormant. I started to be able to sense them when I was nine, after my mother's rather explosive experiment."

Leevi knew which experiment she meant and squeezed her hand. She gave him a little smile and then looked over his shoulder distractedly. He spun around but didn't see anything, although he noticed few more translucent beads hidden in her hair.

"Why can't I see them?" he asked quietly.

"Oh, they're quite smaller than Arion. It'll take you a little while to grow attuned to them. I'm not surprised that the form you attributed to Arion was close to that of a snitch—it's an image you have great attachment to. You just need to open your mind a little and you'll see them for who they are." They walked quietly for a few minutes before she broke the silence with a giggle. "It's quite a pity you can't hear them, really. They have the best stories to tell."

As they neared the edge of the forest, Leevi held her back for a moment.

"Christelle—Luna—I need to know. Crumpled-horned-Snorkacks? Are they real?"

She turned to him with an amused glance. "I don't know, Harry. They talk about them a lot so naturally I've always wanted to find one to see what they're like for myself."

"How do you concentrate on anything with all of this going on?" He asked, remembering all the times they had given her odd looks, or worse, whispered about her distracted demeanor and talk of "fantastical" creatures.

To his surprise, she laughed and replied, "What _I_ don't understand is how you can live with all that silence."

He grinned, and followed her up to the castle. Neither one noticed a black raven circling the towers of Hogwarts Castle as the sun finally broke through the clouds.

ooOOOoo

A/N: Sorry if it jumps around quite a bit in this chapter. R&R!


	6. Griffins

**Disclaimer: HP JKR's property. See that fence? Barbed wire? Sign that says "keep out"? Yeah, I didn't put them there. At least there's a little glitch in the system that allows us to write fanfiction…**

**A/N: Thank you for your reviews! I really appreciate your input. I reread my chapters and the story seems to be moving a little fast so I'll probably go back and rewrite some stuff later, just to make it flow better… but right now I'm working forward, so the rewrites will have to wait. :) **

ooOOoo

The trip on the Hogwarts Express had been peaceful and uneventful. Leevi had wanted to run to his parents when he saw them at the station, but managed to walk civilly up while Harry rushed over. The Potters welcomed them back warmly and the two youngest members of the family plagued them with questions about Hogwarts until they returned to the manor.

Leevi looked at his bedroom with a smile. It was wonderful to not have to go back to the Dursleys in the summers anymore. Ever again. And to be with his parents… it was a dream come true. He waved his hand at the door and set up a silencing charm. He smirked as he thought back at the past year at Hogwarts. It had been a struggle at first to keep himself from rolling his eyes at the lessons they had to relearn and being careful about appearing like a first year. Saying the proper incantations had been tedious, even if it was good form. He had gotten used to training in wordless magic and had tried his hand at wandless magic at the end of the war. If it hadn't been for the training sessions with Christelle in the Room of Requirements where they practiced both magic with and without wands, he would probably have been itching to do some accidental magic. Or a school-wide untraceable prank. He fully believed that magic could get _bored_.

Now that he thought about it, it would be good to concentrate their training sessions more on wandless magic and build up their repertoire of such spells. Christelle had been learning some new ones from him, but mostly they had used wordless wand spells during training. He needed to think about the best way to work on his mage sight as well. Hmmm, something to think about as he went to sleep…

ooOOoo

Leevi nudged Christelle. It was their first Saturday morning back from Hogwarts and the two of them were reading in the sunny study on the second floor. Harry and Dorian were playing a game of Exploding Snap nearby, while Jasmine was laying on the ground, idly coloring a book whose images had quite vocal ideas of what colors they should be.

Christelle looked at him, narrowing her eyes. She huffed and turned on the couch to face the other way as she thumbed through her charms book. Jasmine looked up as Leevi nudged her again, harder. Her book fell on the floor and Harry turned to look at them as she, in turn, responded by glaring at him and shoving him with both arms.

"Hey!"

And the scuffle began.

Not being able to use magic, the two youngsters rolled on the ground while the other three children watched with wide eyes. Harry gaped. He'd never seen the two of them like this before!

"Umm… guys? What's going on?" he asked. "Aaaah!" he quickly jumped out of the way and through the open doorway as Leevi tumbled Christelle towards him. At Christelle's shriek, they finally heard the sounds of an adult coming up the stairs.

"Kids—what's—" James stopped at the door and stared. " going on?" he finished.

Christelle launched herself at Leevi and the wrestling began in earnest. James moved forward to stop them, but Harry was in his way. Jasmine and Dorian had moved to the opposite end of the room to give them more space. As he wrestled his gaping son from the doorway, Leevi got winded by a well-placed jab and reached his hand out to grab Christelle's hair. Her cry of outrage and moment of imbalance allowed him to end the short scuffle by pinning her to the ground.

"Get OFF me!"

"Hey, you started—"

"No, YOU started—"

"QUIET!" James interrupted, finally entering the room.

"Uncle James—"

"Leevi, get off your sister."

"But—"

"Get off your sister." James repeated. Inside, he was smiling. This was one of the few things they had done that seemed their age. But he was supposed to be the responsible adult and disciplinarian. Right. "Now."

Leevi got off, pouting.

"Uncle James," Christelle said calmly, from her point on the floor. "Can I get grappling lessons this summer so I can beat my brother up once in a while? It would be nice to not always end up on the floor."

"Hey, that's unfair advantage!" Leevi started.

"Well, it's not my fault you always go after my hair!"

"If you get lessons, I should get some too! In Quidditch maybe. What do you think, Hary?"

"Arrrrgh—" Christelle launched herself at Leevi. James stepped in quickly and separated the two of them.

"All right you two! Grounded!"

Christelle and Leevi stared at him with big round eyes. James looked at their shocked expressions but couldn't really go back on his word, his children were watching… but he really hoped they wouldn't make a big deal about him not being their father or even their legal guardian. What was he thinking? He was the adult here!

"but—"

"No buts. You fight in my house, you get grounded." He tugged them towards the door and Harry stepped out of the way. "We're having a nice talk about what brought this on downstairs. You three," he motioned to Harry, Jasmine, and Dorian "stay here. Don't clean anything up—these two will be up shortly to do that."

Leading the Maximus children down the stairs to the first floor parlor, he missed the twin grins on both their faces.

ooOOoo

"You know, I thought it would be harder than that." Leevi said as he picked up her charms book.

She huffed. "Come on, did you have to go for my hair? You knew I couldn't retaliate."

He laughed. "So it was the only time I was going to get away with that. Of course I went for your hair." He paused. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

She gave him a pointed look. After all, they _had_ been through a war and he was aware that she had gone through her set of injuries then just as anyone else. She rolled her eyes and smiled. "Nah. Just stings a little. So now what?"

"Now we attend a couple of lessons, get all excited about it, and convince them to let the others join." Leevi said as he handed her a pillow to put back on the couch.

"Speaking of lessons," Christelle said as she plumped up the pillow and placed it in a corner of the couch, "I could use some pointers on evasive flying. I'm decent on a broom, but…" she shrugged.

"Sure." Leevi said. "We might want to wait a while though. Not only are we grounded for the rest of this weekend, but if we end up doing something that startles them, they'll think I'm trying to dive bomb you or knock you off your broom."

ooOOoo

Remus Lupin walked through the doors of Gringotts and met Raxiel just inside the bank. The goblin merely acknowledged his presence with a nod and led him to a back room and down some tunnels to a vault.

"The location of the Griffin Inceptum is to remain secret until you fully decide whether or not you will join its staff." The goblin said, motioning to one of the vanishing cabinets. "For this visit, you will step through that cabinet and emerge on the other side where someone will give you a tour of the premises. I will be back here to meet you on your way back."

"Thank you." Remus said, nodding his head politely before stepping up to the cabinet.

As he stepped out the other side, he found himself face to face with a young man wearing muggle clothes.

"Ah! You must be Mr. Lupin." He offered his hand out and Remus shook him. "I'm Daniel. If you will please follow me, I'll show you around the establishment."

Remus nodded and followed him out of the room. They entered a large, bright lounge and kept walking into a long hallway. He noticed they were on the second floor of a building and that the weather outside was sunny.

"This is a purely research facility. As you may have heard, we are sponsored by international funds—all donations or gifts. Griffin Inceptum is a non-profit organization which, quite conveniently if you ask me, keeps us away from having to deal with a lot of the red tape from your Ministry of Magic. That's how we can offer positions to members of society such as yourself who apparently tend to be left out." Daniel paused with a hand on the door as Remus put his hand on his shoulder. "Yes, Mr. Lupin?"

"What do you mean by members of society such as myself?"

"You are a werewolf, are you not?"

Remus's eyes narrowed. "And how would you know this?"

"You've been on our list of Wolfsbane recipients for a while now. One of the first." Daniel shrugged. "The other two work here." That took Remus for a surprise. "Don't worry, Mr. Lupin. People coming into this facility have been screened against prejudices. I myself, am muggle and I find this whole magic thing quite fascinating." Smiling at Remus, he opened the door and motioned him to precede him into the room. Remus gave him an appraising look and entered.

The potions lab was well stocked and busy. Six people were working on different potions in groups of two. "These here are the ones that work on developing new potions of interest. The group is a mixture of muggles and wizards. In the next room," Remus could see another room separated only by a pane of glass with four people inside, "we have the apprentices that work on potions that have already been developed such as the Wolfsbane you are familiar with, as well as any new potions the research team is able to conjure."

"What kind of potions are you researching?"

"Hmmm… I'm not sure I'm allowed to tell you that as of yet. But it's the same general principle as Wolfsbane—something that would aid members of society." They walked further down the hall. "And this is where I usually work. My partner is taking the day off, so I was the one free to show you around. We're trying to mold some technology with magic—or at least, the premise behind the technology since your magic makes electricity behave erratically at best." He opened another door and let Remus look inside. "I'd invite you in, but we would need clear you for this area. As you can see, the group is small but we work well together." Someone looked up and gave Daniel a wave.

"Dan, who've you got there?"

"Potential newbie!" he replied.

"What division?"

"Research and Defense. Potential consultant. I was going to show him Defense division next, want to join us?"

"Actively recruiting, are we?" The middle-aged man walked over. "Nice to meet you. Name's Ed. Forgive the glamour—but it's necessary until you decide whether you're joining us or not."

Remus nodded thoughtfully and shook his hand. "Remus Lupin."

"Ah! Professor Lupin. I've heard much about you." Ed said, looking him over. "Shall we head to the Defense Division then? I'm pretty much done here for a little while." Daniel nodded and led the way.

"So how did you get the interview?" Ed asked.

"By owl. And you? Have you been here long?"

"Since the beginning of the year, pretty close to when they started up. I have to tell you, this business is amazing. Believe it or not, I heard through my son. Very luckily, I must say… apparently a school friend has ties with someone in charge."

Daniel walked them into a room with large windows. "And I heard through a friend who neglected to tell me she was a witch for five years. Amazing, what you learn about people you thought you knew!" He grinned and nodded to the windows. "They're working over there."

Remus watched as two wizards threw curses and hexes at a dummy wearing some kind of armor.

"They're testing a new dragonhide armor design we've come up with." Ed said helpfully. "It's got some shielding spells woven in, courtesy of the Charms Division, of course."

"Where did you get the idea?" Remus asked, appreciating the way the armor seemed to stand up to the assault.

"Some old tomes on War Mages." He said amiably. They watched as one of the wizards cast another spell and large gouges appeared on the armor. "Oh well, can't protect against everything. Person wearing them needs to do some work right?" he patted Daniel's shoulder. "Why don't I go there and see what they threw at it. See if you can bring him on board, eh? He's a good man." He turned to Remus. "It was nice meeting you, Professor. If you have any questions after Daniel speaks with you, I'd be glad to help answer them. You know where to find me." He added the last bit for Daniel as he walked away. Daniel led Remus to another office.

"So what would my position entail, exactly?" Remus asked.

"As a consultant to Defense and Research Divisions, you would be asked to advise certain projects that may fall in your area of expertise. As a werewolf, the Research Division could use your insights on the effects of Wolfsbane, both physical, mental, and magical. We've found that this differs depending on when lycanthropy was contracted." Daniel was all business. "That would give our Potions Division ideas on where to head next. Since the werewolf identity and the human identity seem to be separated, there is an avid debate on whether the two should be merged or one suppressed over the other. The general consensus right now is that nothing can be done without understanding the situation—something that we would need a willing werewolf to shed some light on."

"What about the other werewolves you mentioned already in employ?"

"One of them was bitten recently and is adjusting to the condition, and the other… well, his werewolf is extremely out of tune with the human host. Wolfsbane barely helps him, but he's willing to help us test advances from the Defense Division."

"And what would these be?" Remus asked cautiously.

"Another kind of armor that might mitigate forceful impacts that werewolves can deliver. Analysis of the sensory advantages on the magical level to see if we can replicate them in some other way. And a potion that would reduce silver toxicity to werewolves."

Remus looked at him incredulously. "The ministry has no say in this?"

"No say whatsoever."

"How is that possible? Even if you are privately funded—"

"The ministry has no jurisdiction on this facility." Daniel said quietly. "At the moment, they turn a blind eye to us both because we haven't given them a reason for further scrutiny. From what I hear, we might take the Defense Division into the market in a year or so and then would need to see about some of those marketing laws, but the research is going to remain privately funded. Besides," he said, leaning back and lounging comfortably on his chair, "we've exploited every loophole in their laws against werewolves, centaurs, vampires, muggles… you name it, someone upstairs has come up with something to deal with it."

He was right, Remus realized. As a non-profit organization, they did escape some attention from the Ministry. And the job description could be reinterpreted as asking volunteers to participate in a study. Whatever benefits the volunteer would be subject to was of no concern to those in political power. He smiled.

"I would love to meet the mastermind behind this operation and I would be honored to join it."

Daniel smiled. "Let's go find Ed then, shall we? I believe he can answer some more of your questions and get you familiarized with the divisions. I'll contact the Public Relations Department and get everything else set up for you."

Remus followed Daniel back to the Charms Division.

"He's in, Ed!"

"Wonderful." Ed motioned for them to join him.

"Ed Kent?" Remus's eyes widened in surprise.

"Ah, you do remember me, Remus. I was wondering if you would after the glamour came off. It's been a while since Hogwarts."

ooOOoo

Neville looked up as Hedwig tapped his window lightly. He smiled and let her in, gingerly taking the letter off her foot and giving the owl some water. She settled herself down on his desk chair and watched Trevor as he read his letter and composed a reply.

_Dear Christelle, Leevi, and Harry,_

It's great to hear from you. Uncle Sam isn't too keen on letting me out of the house even if it is to visit some friends. On the other hand, I'm not cooped up at home every day. Professor Dumbledore talked to me before the end of the year and told me a great many things about the responsibility of being the Boy Who Lived. I'm taking some lessons (mostly history of the first war) with a friend of my uncle. I'll ask, but I don't know if I'll be able to join your lessons. They sound like fun, and much more exciting than mine!

_No, I haven't had a chance to start on a garden this summer. They seem worried even of me stepping out in the yard on my own. If they're already tightening up security so much when You-Know-Who isn't completely back yet, I wonder what it'll be like later! Aren't the Potters keeping you indoors at all times?_

_Neville_

Leevi finished reading Neville's reply and looked up at Christelle's thoughtful face.

"Well, at least he's not being kept in the dark about everything." He paused. "But what we've seen from Dumbledore… I think we should invite Neville and his uncle Sam to dinner." he said. "The Potters are in the Order so Dumbledore has no reason to keep Neville away from his friends as long as he's chaperoned." He paused, looking out the window. "We're going to find out what Dumbledore's planning and make sure that his actions won't cost us more later. If there was no one to keep an eye on him before, well, there will be now."

ooOOoo

Severus Snape paced in the study of his house. Over the holidays, he split his time between the school and his small cottage in Suffolk County.

A book? Lucius Malfoy invited him to dinner to give him… _a book?_

He looked at the thin, black bound leather book laying innocently on his desk.

He read the title, written in elegant, gold letters on the front cover. _Treatise._ He walked over to his desk and pulled out his wand, waving some diagnostic spells on the book. A few charms on the book, but nothing coercive or dark. He picked up the book and leafed through its pages quickly, surprised to see potions notes and theoretical formulas inside. It seemed innocuous enough, and yet—when had Malfoy's intentions ever been innocuous? He shoved the book in a drawer and retired to his quarters. He would look at the book tomorrow. After all, he had all summer vacation to find out what Lucius was up to.

ooOOoo

A/N: Nope, Riddle's diary isn't showing up quite yet… R/R!


	7. Padfoot

**Disclaimer: I have a pet turtle. It's small and temperamental and it's my turtle. Harry Potter characters, on the other hand, are not mine.**

A/N: I love my readers. They send me very helpful reviews, leading to fun times pondering and plotting adventures for these characters!

ooOOoo

"Really?" Sirius asked as Lilly poured him some tea. "I wouldn't have thought sending the kids to learn how to fight would be conducive to… them not fighting."

James grimaced. "I didn't either, but Lilly loved the idea."

"It's commonly known that martial arts teach you control and discipline as well as how to handle yourself in a fight. Besides, this way they get it out of their system in a controlled manner and aren't tearing up the house as much." She replied, turning around to hold biscuits to Remus.

"The twins have gotten over a lot of the shyness they exhibited last year, so I'm glad about these lessons of theirs… leaves us some time in peace. I guess we should've thought about that before we ended up with five children." James added, smiling.

"All five of them are taking lessons?" Remus asked.

"Yep. As soon as Leevi and Christelle came back from the first class glowing and excited, demonstrating how to tumble 'properly'… well, Harry was clamoring for lessons too. Jasmine was a little reticent, but Dorian was all for it."

"I think it's bringing them closer together." Lilly said, sitting down.

Sirius pouted. "I was hoping to spend some time with my godson this summer!"

"Don't worry, they only have lessons twice a week in the morning. I'm sure we can accommodate some 'Padfoot time' in there fore Harry." Lilly replied, patting his hand reassuringly.

"Any more questions from Dorian about Wormtail?" Remus asked quietly.

"No." James said sourly, then sighed. "At least the kids seem to keep him occupied enough it doesn't seem to cross his mind too often." Sirius ground his teeth.

"Where are the children now?" Remus asked.

"At the Weasley's." Lilly answered quickly. "They've taken to visiting their friends on Saturdays, switching between visiting Ron and Neville—I'm glad Albus is letting that boy have some normal interactions with kids his age. I hate to think about him growing up so quickly already, training at his age. At least it's all theoretical at this point."

The Marauders nodded. They knew it was only a matter of time before Voldemort came back and the Boy Who Lived was their best chance at defeating him completely, but it was difficult to reconcile that with the shy boy that had befriended the Potter's children.

"So, what are you two up to recently?"

Remus smiled. "I've got myself a new position, and I'm starting next week."

James turned to him, surprised. "You found a job this quickly?"

"That's great, Moony!" Sirius smiled, pounding his back heartily. "What're you doing?"

"Actually, they recruited me. I'm going to work with the Griffin Inceptum."

"The same company that was sending you the Wolfsbane?" Lilly asked, surprised. "I wasn't aware that they were recruiting."

"What does your job entail?" James asked.

"Consultant for a couple of their research divisions."

"They're not going to make you test some of their products, are they?" Sirius asked, half-jokingly. "Wolfsbane with extra perks: impress the ladies in top-wolf-form!"

Remus shrugged. "I can't go into too much detail right now, mostly because I don't know enough about it but it's all dependent on my personal consent. What about you?"

Sirius shook his head and shrugged. "Don't know. Dumbledore might have need of me off the isle, but nothing concrete yet. I got a weird package in the mail last week that he wants me to check out though."

"What about?" James asked.

"Someone sent me a book on dark artifacts—I looked through it briefly, and it has some history of Black family heirlooms. Dumbledore says it's a good chance to learn more about them without experimenting with the actual artifacts, which I'll be glad enough to avoid."

James nodded. "I remember seeing some of those. If they could have a personality, I would say their disposition was quite nasty."

"Sirius Black studying a book during the summer holidays?" Remus said with a smile as Sirius scowled. "I never thought I'd see the day."

ooOOoo

Christelle looked up and watched as the others swooped around on brooms outside. She sat cross-legged in the living room, playing Exploding Snap with Jasmine and Dorian. Ron was playing Keeper, Fred and George were Beaters, Harry, Ginny, and Leevi took turns switching between being two Chasers and one Seeker.

_Leevi tugged at his shirt nervously._

"_Calm down," she whispered. "She's only eleven. Remember how she acted around you when you met her?" He nodded. "Okay, don't act like that around _her_." He chuckled and punched her arm. "That's the spirit." She said, as she pushed him into the floo and watched as the green flames carried him to the Burrow._

_When she emerged, she saw Harry and Ron already talking animatedly about their summers so far. Leevi was standing in the corner, greeting Mrs. Weasley. She shook invisible ashes off of her skirt and greeted Ron's mother politely as the twins were herded down the stairs by Ginny, who was scolding them for setting off one of their prank inventions right outside her room. _

"_I told you to stay away from my room!" she screeched. "Mom, they--!" she stopped when she saw they had company. Harry was staring at her with surprised eyes, Ron was looking at her exasperated, and Leevi was smiling. Christelle just watched curiously. She hadn't become friends with Ginny until their second year really, and wondered what it would be like this time around. "Oh." Ginny's face turned red. "Hi." She mumbled._

_Mrs. Weasley glared at the twins. "Fred! George! What did I tell you about doing magic in the house?"_

"_But it wasn't _magic_ magic—"_

"_Quite right, oh brother of mine—"_

"_It was simply"_

"_A small concoction"_

"_With unpredictable characteristics"_

"_that decided our ickle-Gin-Gin's room"_

"_was much more fun than our own."_

"_Our hearts were wrenched"_

"_from our chests at the treacherous qualities"_

"_of our dear, dear concoction."_

"_Do I even want to know what it did?" Ron grumbled. Harry tried to sneak a glance up the stairs where a trail of purple smoke was starting to trickle down the stairs. "Harry, Leevi, Christelle, this is my sister, Ginny." _

_At which point, the purple smoke had caught up with the three on the stairs and Ginny quickly pushed her way to the bottom of the stairs and the twins veritably jumped down the banister to open some windows. _

"_Ugh!" Mrs. Weasley quickly waved her wand to dispel the smoke and shook her head as Dorian and Jasmine came through the floo. "Hello dears. Would you like something to eat? Come along now, there are tea and scones for all in the living room!"_

_They'd followed her there and the twins dragged Ginny along. The conversation was a bit skewed towards the first years that had become fast friends, but the moment Quidditch was mentioned, Ginny and Dorian joined in enthusiastically. Christelle spoke to Jasmine and Mrs. Weasley about the latest book on moontrakles. Mrs. Weasley looked at her doubtfully but Jasmine was arguing the details and possibilities of muggles seeing magical creatures that the wizarding world had lost sight of for so long with such a fervor that Christelle wondered if she would be like Hermione once she started at Hogwarts. Wouldn't be long now._

"_Hey, how about a game?" Fred asked. She had always been able to tell which twin was which—there were differences about them and if others would simply accept their similarities. She wondered why no one did. They always tried to deny the similarities when they looked for the differences._

"_Say yeah! We have six brooms—who wants to play?" Ron asked._

"_George and I," George started,_

"_Ronnie-kins, mini-Maximus," Fred continued,_

"_Harrykins?" Harry nodded excitedly. _

"_Christelle?" one of the twins turned to her._

_She wiped imaginary crumbs off of her skirt and shook her head pleasantly. "No, thank you, Fred. I'll sit out of this one. Perhaps Ginny would like to play?" Both Ginny and Leevi threw bright looks at her. _

"_Oh, I don't know if she should—" Mrs. Weasley sputtered. "She's younger than all of them."_

"_Mom--!"_

"_I'm sure she'll be fine. It's just a pick up game, we won't do anything dangerous." Leevi reassured her. "Besides, that way we can sort of have teams." They gave her their most winning smile._

Smiling, Christelle turned back as a card exploded, Dorian groaned, and Mrs. Weasley called the others inside for lunch.

ooOOoo

Neville listened to his tutor describe one of the battles Dumbledore led the Order of the Phoenix against Grindelwald's forces and jotted down the names of the spells each side used. Leevi was right, he would get more out of these lessons if he could remember things that were tangible enough he could learn. Maybe Hermione would have heard of some of these spells before, and Leevi and Christelle could help him learn them. They seemed to pick up on those things much faster than he did. Neville sighed as he glanced out at the blue skies on the other side of the window. He really wished he could have joined the other's at the Burrow that day. The weather was great, Trevor was bored of being indoors, and his tutor's voice droned on and on…

ooOOoo

Sirius put down the small black book and rubbed his eyes. It didn't matter how many lamps they burned in his infernal home, it still felt dark. _Treatise_. A book on the nature of power in magical objects. Theories on the idea of power and magic as a tangible substance that could be molded in different ways, used by people with good or bad intentions, tainting the magic one way or another. It really was something more for Remus or Lilly to read, not him. He walked over to the mantelpiece, where some of the aforementioned objects rested quietly. They would have been gathering dust were it not for Kreacher. He stroked one of them thoughtfully. These were powerful objects, with dark magic concealed inside. Maybe he should ask Dumbledore to read the book and tell him what he thought. If someone's intent had been what had marked the object as evil, perhaps there would be a way to cleanse the artifact and use the power stored in it for good. He was getting a headache.

He decided to owl Moony about the upcoming weekend. Full moon and all—if he could convince his friend to go to the beach, they could have some fun running by the water and maybe he could find something fun to do while his friend slept off the next day. Anything was better than staying cooped up in this house with that book.

ooOOoo

Leevi crept across the hall and opened the door to Christelle's room. She was sitting at the window, twirling her wand in her hand. He cleared his throat slightly before stepping inside. She waved him over without taking her eyes off of the moon.

"Hey, I wanted to thank you for what you did earlier."

Christelle smiled. "I figured that with the flying lessons you've been giving me during the week instead of playing Quidditch with James and Harry, I owed you one. It wasn't as bad as you'd worried about, was it?"

"Nope. Although still a bit different than I expected. Full moon's soon?"

"Yup."

"You think Moony'll be happy with the position at Griffin?"

"I think so. Maybe not as happy as teaching, but he'll be doing something productive."

"So what've you been working on? I've noticed you reading."

"A gift for Hogwarts." She drew out a roll of parchment from under her bed and handed it to him.

Leevi waved a hand at the torchlight by the bed and used the light to go over her runes and calculations. He lifted an eyebrow. "Huh. That's some serious piece of magic you've got planned."

Christelle shrugged. "We owe her. Besides, she might be more inclined to awaken if we treat her nicely and scorch marks in the Room of Requirement aren't that exactly."

Leevi smirked. "I'd say. Just let me know when you want to do it and I'll give you a hand. The design looks quite impressive. Are you sure you aren't picking up on some vibes from Hermione?" He paused to shoot her a rueful smile.

"At least I'm not dying of boredom in classes."

"You were working on this in class?"

"Teachers don't really pay attention to students' parchments if they're quiet and nondisruptive." she said pleasantly, swinging her legs. "Besides, I got bored. Don't you?"

He nodded. "Pleasantly so." He sighed. "I know this is a lull before the storm, but I can't help wanting to immerse myself in it."

"If there's someone who deserves to, it's you." She said quietly. "This is our chance to heal."

He nodded. "Before it starts all over again." But it won't be the same this time, he vowed. Not everyone's going to die this time.

ooOOoo

Christelle approached Lilly while she made dinner in the kitchen. It was a Saturday afternoon and the boys, including the Marauders, were busy with (what else?) Quidditch in the back yard.

"Aunt Lilly, do you suppose we could go to Diagon Alley tomorrow?"

"I don't see why not. Is there something you need in particular, Christelle?" Lilly paused at her stirring to look at the girl setting up some parchment on the dining room table.

"Oh, nothing too special. Just need to pick up something without Leevi finding out."

"Why?" Lilly asked, turning around.

"Because it's for his birthday present, of course."

"Birthday present?" Lilly suddenly realized they had been with the twins for almost a year and slowly smiled.

"Yes, his birthday is next week, didn't you know? Next Thursday, in fact. I ordered some things to help with the present I'm making for him and would like to pick them up at Diagon Alley."

Lilly watched Christelle sit down calmly and take out her quill and ink, softly scratching the parchment in front of her with a soft smile. Next Thursday. Check. She'd get the invitations sent by Monday, probably would have to firecall Albus to make sure Neville could come…

ooOOoo

A couple of days later, Lilly accompanied Christelle to Diagon Alley to pick up what she needed to make her gift. She was surprised when the young girl led her to Gringotts.

In London, Sirius was taking Leevi and Dorian shopping. Leevi had wanted to get some things from a muggle store in addition to a magical one and Dorian had begged to come along. Leevi smiled as Sirius shrunk his package and Dorian rolled his eyes. They didn't know Christelle well enough to understand why this present would be perfect for her.

"Well, that's all I had to pick up." Leevi said lightly. "Anyone have any other ideas on what to do around here?"

Sirius looked thoughtfully up and down the street. "Actually, since we're already here… do you two mind if I made a little impromptu stop at another shop before we head back to Godric's Hollow?"

Dorian beamed. He didn't want to go home yet.

Leevi shrugged and followed Sirius out of the store. They walked down a couple of streets and turned a corner. Sirius stopped them momentarily and whispered to them.

"All right, no telling Lilly about this, okay? You don't want Uncle Padfoot to get into trouble, right?" Dorian smiled and shook his head. Leevi just raised an eyebrow.

They walked into a dark shop. The clerk wore an old grey cloak and the dusty shelves held a number of magical artifacts. Sirius walked up to the counter and pulled out a small black leather book, leafing through the pages. "Here, you got this anywhere?" the clerk nodded and turned to the back room. Sirius smiled and turned to the kids. "Don't touch anything. We'll be out in a jiffy, all right?"

Leevi looked around suspiciously. If he didn't know they were in London, he would have sworn they were in Knockturn Alley. The artifacts on the shelves didn't look as sinister as the ones he had seen in Borgin & Burkes though.

The clerk came back and handed Sirius a black box and a couple of potion vials. Sirius concluded the exchange with a jingle of coins and led the boys back outside. They were strolling down another alleyway when they heard the sound of wizards apparating around them.

Sirius quickly pushed them to a wall. "What the hell? Stay down, boys."

"Uncle Padfoot?" Dorian asked, starting to get worried. Leevi put a finger to his lips and drew the young boy between him and the wall and drew the more weathered of his two wands out as Sirius strolled forward in the alleyway.

"Gentlemen! To what do I owe this visit?"

Leevi cast a disillusionment charm on Dorian and himself then took a couple of steps forward, keeping an arm outstretched to motion Dorian to stay by the wall. He could see four, no—five wizards walking up to Sirius.

"What did you do, Padfoot?" he asked under his breath as all five drew their wands.

"The instructions clearly stated to not try anything without completing the theory." One of the wizards said as he approached Sirius. "You have committed a breach of trust and must return the artifacts as well as the _Treatise_."

"It was given to me with no contract and I have not sworn any oaths. My actions are of my interest alone." Sirius replied darkly.

"Mr. Black, my Lord's plans are carefully crafted to produce the least amount of chaos necessary for the obligate turnover of events." A silky voice said. "Simply hand over the artifacts and allow yourself to be obliviated and nothing more shall come from this. We will deposit you near your home as a last courtesy."

Leevi's eyes narrowed. He would recognize Lucius Malfoy's voice anywhere. The question was, what did he want from Sirius?

"Your Lord was vanquished by a child, or did you forget that?" Sirius raised his wand. Leevi cursed silently as all five wands prepared to fire. What did Padfoot think he was, invincible? He quietly fired a stunner and dropped Malfoy before the other four wizards started in on Sirius. One of them turned around to look for the person who had stunned Malfoy and Leevi stepped back towards the wall. Disillusionment charm or not, he wasn't taking any chances that Dorian would get caught. If only Sirius had thought this through--

"Leevi?" Dorian whispered.

"Just stay by the wall, Dorian. I'm going to try to help Uncle Padfoot, all right?" He fired another stunner into the fray and watched as a second wizard fell. Sirius was definitely fighting on the defensive now. He tore his eyes away from the fight momentarily to send a reassuring smile at Dorian. "I'll be right back, I promise. Just stay low."

Sirius had dropped one of the wizards, but received a heavy cut to his arm and it was affecting his wand movements. He successfully conjured a shield only to block one hex while the other one went through and hit him. Leevi stepped forward and stunned the two wizards from the back as one stood guard and the other fished through Sirius's pockets.

"Really." Leevi muttered as he levitated Sirius towards himself and Dorian. "One summer. Is that too much to ask?" he paused as he made a quick healing charm on Padfoot's shoulder. "Just one bloody peaceful summer. At least the Ministry can't track _this_ wand." He checked him over, but other than the gash on his shoulder and whatever was keeping him from waking up, Sirius should be fine. When an Ennervate didn't work though, he started to worry.

He turned to look at Dorian, who was still standing still up against the wall.

"Dorian?" he whispered. "Uncle Sirius is hurt. Do you have a portkey or anything like that to take us back home?" The young boy shook his head and edged forward.

"Is he okay?" he asked, eyes widening at the sight of blood.

"I think so." Leevi looked at Dorian quizzically. "Close your eyes for a minute."

"Why?"

"Because I'm about to do something I'm not supposed to."

"Oh." Dorian closed his eyes immediately. Leevi smiled at his would-be younger brother. There was something to be said about being brought up by a group of pranksters. The kids learned that sometimes, _not_ knowing what was going on could keep you out of trouble. He sighed, took Dorian's hand while putting his other hand on Padfoot's unhurt shoulder, and apparated them away.

A/N: Surprised at the quick update? Hope it was a fun read.

Oh, I have a question hopefully someone can help me with. Where's the Ministry of Magic in relation to everything else in the wizarding world? I know it's supposed to be in London somewhere…


	8. Birthdays

**Disclaimer: Not mine. At least, not in this lifetime…**

**A/N: Sorry for this update being a bit later than usual. Things were just a little more hectic this week…**

**Special thanks to words of encouragement from my readers. I'm glad you're enjoying reading the story because I'm enjoying writing it!**

**ooOOoo**

"Okay Dorian, you can open your eyes now." Leevi said as they appeared in another alleyway. "See that store over there? I need you to walk through the window. That's the entrance to St. Mungo's and I need you to bring a healer over here to Uncle Sirius, all right?"

Dorian nodded and darted off quickly. Leevi sighed as he turned to Padfoot who was lying still on the ground. He patted down the pockets on his robes until he found the book Sirius had taken out at the store and leafed through it, eyes narrowing as he took in some of the images. He quickly hid it in his own robes when he heard Dorian coming back, heavier footsteps following him. The Mediwizard turned the corner with Dorian and hurried over.

"All right, let's move him inside. You kids all right?" he asked kindly.

"Yes, sir." Leevi replied.

"How'd you get him here?" The mediwizard asked, as he cast a disillusionment charm on Sirius and carefully levitated him. The street was conveniently clear and they hurried over to the entrance and into St. Mungo's.

"Portkey."

The mediwizard nodded. "I'll check him in. Can you fill out a couple of forms? Then you can wait here until someone sees him, or I can find someone to escort you home." Although the children looked young, the older one of the two seemed to be taking everything in stride.

Leevi took the quill and parchment from the receptionist as the mediwizard conjured a stretcher for Sirius. "We'll be all right, thanks. We can take the Knight Bus home and tell our parents about Uncle Sirius. We'll come back with them."

ooOOoo

"They're still trying to figure out what happened to him." James said wearily. "They don't know what curse he got hit with and apparently it's not one of the more common ones. Other than that, his condition is stable." He had flooed over to St. Mungo's when he got Lilly's message and then gone home to check on the kids. "Where did he take you?"

Leevi and Dorian shrugged. Christelle watched the conversation idly, swinging her legs back and forth as she perched on the chair, head propped up on her folded hands on the table top.

"If I can find the wizards that did this, we can question them and figure out what they did to Uncle Sirius." He said, watching them closely. Dorian's gaze darted towards Leevi but then went back to staring at the table. Leevi watched James calmly.

"He's not going to get into trouble."

Leevi shook his head. "I'm sorry, Uncle James but I'm not really sure where we ended up. I can tell you the general area, but I don't know that I would recognize the store from the outside."

James nodded. After Leevi gave him directions to the store they had picked up presents at, he motioned Christelle to follow him upstairs. James watched the twins and then turned to Dorian.

"Are you all right?" he asked, giving his youngest son a reassuring hug.

Dorian nodded. "I was scared, but Leevi took care of everything, Dad. I'm glad he was there."

"Me too, kiddo. Me too."

ooOOoo

Leevi tossed the book at Christelle, who caught it out of the air as she flopped down on his bed.

"I don't know what Padfot's caught up with, but I don't like it." Christelle stared at him for a moment before thumbing through the book. He was in his _frustrated at being in the dark_ mood she recognized from the war. "And he didn't even hesitate to put himself out there. We had enough time, we could have apparated out—_he_ could have apparated us out instead of running out there and trying to take on five wizards."

"Five?" she sighed. "Gryffindors."

"Hey, you're a Gryffindor now, too." Leevi said, stopping his pacing and turning to her with a smile.

"Had to argue that one with the Hat, that's for sure." She leaned back into the pillows and started reading the book. "You know, this is pretty heavy theory on magically constructed artifacts… not something I would have expected Sirius to pick up somewhere for light reading." Leevi joined her on the bed and read over her shoulder.

ooOOoo

Severus Snape put down the small black leather bound book. _Treatise_. It had been an interesting read—but more importantly was the message hidden in the first quarter of the book. He'd almost missed it. As his mother's estrangement from wizardry after her marriage to Tobias Snape had limited his learning of pureblood customs, but he had been able to rectify that during in his years as a student and his extensive interactions with purebloods while following Voldemort in his early years. Only a small key phrase in an essay on the magical consequences of separating the compounds of potions ingredients to further understand the factors that made such ingredients work in a potion had given him a clue to what Lucius Malfoy may have had in mind in giving him the book. And to think that Dumbledore and the Order had thought they understood Malfoy's loyalties.

He sat back in his chair and steepled his fingers as he thought about his next form of action. His fingers had itched to experiment with what the book had suggested but was now glad he had paid heed to the warning and read to the end before taking any steps in that direction. The offer was quite tempting, and in fact, something he had been looking for. While it was Dumbledore who had set him to this task, he had started to wonder if he should really report these developments as the _Treatise_ had ended with a personal invitation cued specifically to the Potions Master.

ooOOoo

_**Birthdays: Maximus**_

The Maximus twins' birthday dawned cool and grey. Although James and the Aurors didn't find the attackers and the Healers at St. Mungo's had not been able to identify and reverse the curse on Sirius, it had, it seemed, ran its course and he had been waking for brief moments of time. The children at Potter Manor had been subdued and had made numerous trips to visit Uncle Sirius in the last few days.

"Good morning!" Lilly said cheerfully as Leevi and Christelle came down the stairs together. They smiled and nodded, slipping into their seats across from Harry and Jasmine. James turned from the kitchen with an apron around his waist and brandished a pan.

"Good morning! Happy Birthday! I'm making pancakes!"

Dorian groaned as he joined everyone else in the room, slipping into the seat next to Leevi. "Mom, you let him into the _kitchen_?"

"I don't think I've ever tasted your cooking, Uncle James." Christelle said wistfully. "Is it any good?"

James made a stabbing motion at her with the spatula. "The cheek! Oh, the hurt!" he paused and winked at Lilly. "Well, I can at least make pancakes. Don't count on me for dinner though. Unless you want pancakes for dinner." He added at the end, thoughtfully. That made Leevi smile, and the room brightened with chatter about plans for the day.

They had invited Neville and his uncle, as well as the Weasleys over for an afternoon of fun and dinner. Remus was going to stop by St. Mungo's to see how Sirius was doing and if he would be well enough to spend the evening with the others. Ron, Ginny, Fred, George, and Mrs. Weasley arrived first. Hermione had mailed their presents and had expressed her regrets to not being able to join the party. As Lilly and Molly went about getting tea ready for the adults, the children ran outside to play. Ginny and the boys wanted to play Quidditch and eventually cajoled the Christelle and Jasmine into joining in. They played with one Seeker setting the time for each game, teams won by who scored more points with the quaffle.

When they came inside, they found that Sirius had indeed come with Remus and the kids quickly clamored around his side to ask how he was doing.

"I'm fine, I'm fine, kids. No big deal. Uncle Padfoot's stronger than some nasty curse." He said fondly, patting Dorian on the head. No one noticed one of the Weasley twins slip something into the teapot. "Who won the game?"

As he sipped the tea, his ears turned big and pointy like a house elf's. The twins laughed and patted each others backs as the younger children snickered. James silently conjured a mirror for Sirius and Remus patted Lilly's back as she was almost smothered in laughter.

"Hey!" he paused and wriggled his ears. The children laughed harder. "Oh, they're actually kind of fun." He rubbed the tips of his new ears with his fingers. "And soft. I'm impressed. Have you guys used this at school yet?" Fred and George gave each other a high-five and Molly gave him a reproving look as the floo flared green and Neville stepped in with his uncle, two packages in his hand.

"Hi everybody! Happy Birthday Leevi, Christelle!" he said enthusiastically. "This is my Uncle Sam." He introduced, as his uncle stepped forward.

"Doesn't he remind you of someone?" Leevi murmured to Christelle as the adults introduced themselves and the children. He watched from the corner of his eyes as Ginny slipped behind Mrs. Weasley, her face turning a little red.

"Hmm… not of Frank or Alice though." she nodded and murmured back before holding out her hand to greet the guests.

The kids followed Harry to the living room, where Neville put down the presents. Mrs. Weasley gave Ginny a little push to join the group. The youngest redhead was quiet and stayed at the periphery of the group watching her brothers friends interact. Leevi noticed her standing apart from the group and got them organized playing a game of Exploding Snap. Meanwhile, the Marauders took a stroll outside while Lilly offered more tea to Mrs. Weasley and Neville's uncle.

"Padfoot, what happened?" James asked.

Sirius sighed. "I don't really know. Remember that book I got that Dumbledore wanted me to look at?" They nodded. "Well, I read part of it. It has some weird magical theory stuff about some of the Black heirlooms--apparently they can be used in some old rituals to increase the wielder's magical abilities, to extend scrying… that kind of thing. I thought I'd try one out to see how accurate the book was so I picked up—something from a store. Then we got accosted by a bunch of wizards." Sirius shrugged. "I'm pretty sure they were there because of the book, but I'm not sure how they found out what I was doing."

"What did you pick up?" Remus asked.

"That's the weird thing. I can't remember any specifics on the book."

"What do you mean?" James asked, looking at his friend with a worried frown.

"I really don't remember. I have a general sense about what I read, but I don't remember it clearly enough to tell you anything about it." He sighed. "Dumbledore's been on my case to get through it and now I've got nothing concrete to tell him."

"So they got the book, then?" James asked.

"I think so. And whatever it was I picked up. I'm just glad I got out of there… you guys catch any of them?" James shook his head.

"Good call on giving the kids a portkey by the way." Sirius said.

"What? I thought that was your portkey." James said. The three adults stopped walking.

"Me? No, I didn't have a portkey on me."

"Well, we never gave Dorian one, although it's a good idea. So that leaves Leevi."

"Or whoever helped me."

"They didn't say there was anyone else there, Padfoot."

"That can't be right. I mean, there were five guys there—I certainly didn't take them all out on my own. I _saw_ a couple of them get knocked out, probably by stunners. Besides, if there wasn't anyone else there, why would the others just leave me there until the kids came out of hiding?"

"Maybe they just wanted the book and the artifact and after they took them, they left." Remus suggested.

Sirius shook his head, but didn't have any alternative explanation.

ooOOoo

"Shall we have Leevi and Christelle open their presents?" Lilly asked and the children cheered.

"Oh, I have to grab yours from upstairs!" Leevi said and ran up to his room. The rest of them were chatting happily, taking out the presents and placing them on two piles on the living room floor. They didn't notice Sirius slipping up the stairs after Leevi.

"It's here—I know I put it in here somewhere…" he muttered as he dug around his trunk. It was the only place he had been able to think of that Christelle wouldn't be able to get into, but there were so many compartments he was having trouble finding where he'd put her present. His head snapped to the door when he heard someone come in. "Oh, hi Sirius. I'll be down in a minute." Sirius stepped into the room.

"Leevi, I wanted to thank you for what you did in the alley." He said softly. Leevi turned around and shut the trunk out of habit. He'd find the present later.

"I—I should have thought things through more, but I guess I thought drawing the attention to myself was the best idea. And I thought they'd let me get away with it." He said, smirking. "If you didn't have that portkey on you…" He stepped up to Leevi and gave him a hug. "You've got a good head on your shoulder's kiddo." Leevi returned the hug, smiling softly. Padfoot would always be Padfoot.

"Now then," Sirius said, straightening up and looking at him in the eyes. "There's the little problem of some of my belongings having disappeared. Any idea about that?"

"Hey Leevi! What's taking you so long?" Dorian asked as he looked through the door. "Hey Uncle Sirius!"

"Don't interrupt us." Sirius growled. Dorian looked taken aback and Leevi gave Sirius an odd look. Sirius turned to Leevi and asked him again. "Answer my question, kid."

"I'm afraid I can't answer your question, Padfoot." He walked over to Dorian. "Coming, Uncle Sirius?"

ooOOoo

That evening after everyone had left, Christelle snuck into Leevi's room.

"Hey there!"

"Hey."

"Isn't it weird to have our birthdays on the same day?" she asked, bouncing onto his bed.

"Well, I couldn't possibly have the same birthday as Harry, that'd just be too weird." He smiled at her and nodded to the present she'd gotten him. "Thanks." Of all the gifts he'd received—even the ones from his parents that he would always treasure, it had been her gift that had made him smile the most. The picture was one of himself on his broom during one of the matches this past year, but the picture frame, with its decorative buttons, feathers, and butterbeer caps, was something he hadn't seen her indulge in since their earlier Hogwarts years. It reminded him of the friend that had been so often misunderstood but carefree. He caught a small bundle she tossed at him.

"That's the second half of your present."

He enlarged the package to find a set of old books on mystical gifts. "It might help you adapt your occlumency to having mage sight." She explained.

"Well, I got you something extra too." He drew a box out from under his bed and put it in front of her. She opened it to find a soft, stuffed animal. A red wolf. She smiled and petted it lightly on the head.

"She's beautiful."

Leevi raised an eyebrow. "She? Well, she is a muggle wolf."

"Muggle, huh?" she said as she laid on her stomach, eyeing the wolf appreciatively. "Well then, she _my_ lovely muggle wolf and I shall call her Luna."

"Luna?" Leevi said incredulously. "You're going to call—_her_—Luna?"

"I think she'd like a butterbeer cap necklace, don't you think?"

Leevi stared at her for a moment, then his face broke out into a smile. He shook his head indulgently and asked her about the trip to Gringotts. She took out another package absentmindedly from her pocket and laid it on the bed.

"There. The silver arm bands are portkeys to the installment in Wales and they sent along the prototypes for the dragon hide armour." She tickled the fluffy red wolf under the chin and sighed as she noticed him looking at the armour appreciatively. "Pass me that _Treatise_ book, will you? I'll read while you assess our new toys."

"They sent us new wandholders as well!" He said excitedly. "Now we can carry _both_ of our wands with us."

"Paranoid, much?"

"Constant Vigilance!" he said, smirking, as he dug the book out from his trunk and handed it over. "Padfoot was acting kind of weird today and asking after the book."

"He did seem a little touchy about the subject." She admitted. "You think there's more to it than recovery?"

"I don't know. It's probably nothing, but he seemed to act a bit out of character." He shook his head and settled down in a chair to look through the occlumency books. "We'll have to keep an eye on him too, I guess."

"Hmmm."

ooOOoo

_**Interlude**_

"Tell me, what has my inner circle been doing these past years?" a voiced hissed into the darkness.

"My Lord, those that were implicated with your rule were either locked up in Azkaban—including Bellatrix, Rudolphous, and McNair, others have denied their allegiance to you to hide amongst the mudblood lover Dumbledore and his Ministry. Malfoy has his feet in politics, Snape is at that school, and Wormtail was still with Dumbledore. Rosier has disappeared. As for the others—" The man in the dark robes stopped at a hissed command and watched as a large snake slipped towards him.

"Those that have denounced me shall pay. Come hither and we shall call them, my faithful servant. One by one, and see which are true and which will feel my fury."

ooOOoo

_**Birthdays: Neville Longbottom and Harry Potter**_

Neville looked up from his reading to watch as his uncle stepped out of the floo. Headmaster Albus Dumbledore followed him into the living room, carrying a wrapped package in his arms.

"Ah, my dear boy," the headmaster greeted, "happy birthday." Neville smiled and thanked the old man with an awed demeanor. Even though the headmaster hadn't allowed him the company of his friends for his birthday, he had taken the time to come visit him himself. It seemed little to give up since he had gotten to see them a couple of times this summer and besides, how were they able to compare with the opportunity to hear personally from the greatest wizard in the world? A great wizard who was taking personal interest in his safety.

Packages and letters from his friends had been read and unpacked in his room, thank you notes sent out, but the main thing on his mind was: Dumbledore put time aside in his busy schedule for _me._

ooOOoo

The next day, James, Sirius, Harry and the Maximus twins set out to meet the Weasleys at Diagon Alley. Hermione joined them as her family had returned from their vacation abroad. They had decided to spend the afternoon there, looking through shops while picking up some school things, ending the evening with a celebration at home.

"Hey, look! It's Zach and Justin!" Christelle said cheerfully, waving at the Hufflepuffs that were headed out of Magical Menagerie.

Ron groaned and tried to pull her arm down. "Come on, isn't it enough that you hung out with them at the end of the school year? Do you have to call their attention during the _summer_?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. "They're our friends no matter what time of the year it is."

"They're Puffs!"

"Oy, you're making friends with Puffs?" Sirius asked, mockingly.

"We have friends from other houses, I don't see what the big deal is." Leevi said lightly.

"I think they're all pretty decent folks." Harry said, nodding. "Not my favorite people in the world, but the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs aren't so bad."

"As long as you aren't hanging with Slytherins, I suppose!" Sirius said flippantly. He stopped and looked back as the contingent of youngsters that had stopped walking. Harry and Ron were looking to the side, pointedly ignoring how Leevi and Christelle were giving Sirius a hard look.

James squirmed. "Hey, umm—so who are these Puffs and Ravenclaws you've made friends with?"

The twins both raised an eyebrow at his nervous demeanor and James had to bite his tongue from laughing. They had timed that perfectly well.

"They are Zach Smith and Justin Finch-Fletchley. We also know some Ravenclaws—and Slytherins. Let's see, there's Abbott and Bones who are also Puffs,"

"Susan's mom works in the Auror office, you probably know her, Uncle James." Christelle cut in. Leevi nodded and they kept walking towards the adults.

"Corner, Boot and Patil from Ravenclaw…"

"They make great study buddies—finally someone Hermione can contend with!"

"They're the only ones that understand the importance of scheduling to efficiently use our time—"

"Yes, yes, Hermione. Except they don't need schedules, they just study whenever they're not doing anything else. Like eating, or sleeping, or going to classes—" Ron put in with a smirk.

"And they enjoy the library about as much as you do." Harry added.

"Hey, we like the library too!" Christelle said, stepping up to Hermione and giving her a smile. "Nothing wrong with the library."

"And Millicent Bulstrode and Blaise Zabini from Slytherin." Leevi continued.

"They have the most interesting way of solving problems. We learn quite a lot from them, actually." Christelle said as they moved past the adults and waved at Justin and Zach who were also calling out greetings.

"Wait—Bulstrode and Zabini?" James repeated.

"You're taking tips from _Slytherins?_" Sirius gasped. He watched as Harry and Ron seemed to try to dig holes in the road by scuffing their shoes.

The Maximus twins turned around and glared. "Are you telling me that you uphold House rivalries at Hogwarts to the extent of biasing your view of entire groups of people by a thirty second personality test administered by an old hat?"

"Hey—it's an intelligent and _magical_ hat—" Sirius protested.

Hermione wanted to add that the Sorting Hat wasn't just _any_ magical hat, that it had been doing its job for centuries, that it was a relic from the times of the Founders, but she bit her lip and kept silent. She'd had misgivings about the Slytherins herself after meeting Draco Malfoy and when Leevi and Christelle had shown her how prejudiced that was…

"And of course, no one ever changes, learns, or has deep and complex personalities." Christelle continued, frowning at him. "Really, Uncle Padfoot, I would have expected more of you." Leevi nodded in accordance. "Especially since you differ so much from the other members of the Black family." Leevi stopped nodding, although he agreed. He wasn't sure that was a safe thing to bring up at the moment, but when he looked back at Sirius, he realized that at least it _had _made Padfoot stop and think, even if he was grimacing at being compared to a Slytherin.

James stroked his chin as he waved the other boys forward, Ginny lagging behind slightly. "Well, Zabini has always been kind of neutral in the war, I guess, but Bulstrode—"

Christelle cleared her throat. Just as Hermione interceded, "They really aren't as bad as people make them seem, once you get to know them. Even to me, and I'm muggleborn."

"Well, they're just kids, right?" James amended quickly, wondering why he always seemed to step down when confronted by children these days. "How about we ask your Hufflepuff friends to join us for ice cream?"

Christelle's face brightened with a smile and she turned to walk over and invite the two boys to join their group.

They caught up on how their respective summers had been, and both Hufflepuff boys wished Harry a Happy Birthday. James poked Sirius with his elbow and whispered how they weren't so bad for Puffs. Padfoot nodded, but still had reservations about the kids making friends with Slytherins. They ended the afternoon by picking up their school books.

Leevi nudged Christelle when the Malfoys entered the store. To their surprise, the elder Malfoy merely restrained the younger counterpart to a disdainful sneer and walked past them to the counter. As they left the store, Leevi offered to carry Ginny's cauldron with books in it for her to the Leaky Cauldron. As she blushed and thanked him, he discreetly looked through the books for a familiar black diary but shook his head at Christelle's inquiring look. A glance at any of their companions' possessions didn't reveal the diary either. Strange…

ooOOoo

Next: Back to Hogwarts!


	9. Back at Hogwarts

**Disclaimer: nope. Not mine.**

_A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I hope to answer most of your questions in the next couple of chapters so hold on, okay? One clarification though: Tom Riddle's diary is separate from the other books being distributed and is still under the possession of a Death Eater… it'll probably appear in the next two chapters._

_oooOOOooo_

Leevi and Harry waved at the Potters as they started walking to the train. Christelle gave Jasmine an extra squeeze on the shoulder.

"Hey, you'll be joining us next year, okay? So I'll help you with anything you want to work on with Aunt Lilly this year and this summer. I'm sure Hedwig won't mind the exercise." Jasmine smiled at her.

"I'll be asking mom to take me to the library for more books on magical creatures." 

Christelle laughed and started walking to the train. "Just remember that not everything can be found in books!" She waved as she climbed on. It only took her a few moments to find the compartments the others had set up in. Neville and Ron were already there, as well as Ginny.

"So what did you do this summer, Neville?" Ginny asked.

"Oh, I learned a lot about past wizarding wars. Professor Dumbledore was kind enough to provide me with a tutor."

"He's taking a lot of interest in you lately, hasn't he?" Leevi asked as he sat across from them. Christelle sat down next to him, greeting them with a smile.

"Yeah." Neville smiled shyly. "It's a little overwhelming if I think about it too much."

"He doesn't expect you to do more in the war against You-Know-Who, does he?" Ron asked.

"Well, we _did_ go against him last year—even if it was under the disguise of Professor Quirrel, so I don't know. I hope not." Ginny looked awed and asked him how that had happened. Neville started telling her the story when Hermione walked in.

"Hey guys! Wow, we're getting crowded in here!"

"Hey Hermione, this is my sister Ginny." Ron introduced. "She's a first year."

"Hi!" Hermione greeted as Leevi and Ron helped her put away her trunk. Ginny smiled back but turned her attention back to Neville.

"Hey Hermione." Neville smiled. "Thank you for the book you sent for my birthday."

"Sure! Have you guys done your summer homework?" She asked, bouncing onto the seat. They nodded. 

"Yeah, it's all done. Followed your schedule and everything!" Everyone laughed at that and Hermione blushed. 

Ginny patted Neville's arm timidly and asked him to continue the story. Leevi squirmed in his seat, watching how much attention Ginny was putting on Neville's retelling of their first year. Next to him, Christelle's eyes narrowed when Ginny gasped when Neville narrated the part of the Mirror of Erised and she glared at Ginny's hand when it patted Neville's arm. Neville looked at her hand, surprised at the contact and Ginny withdrew it, blushing. He smiled at her and Christelle shifted her glare to him.

Leevi watched looked out the window as the scenery flew past and wondered again how this year was going to be. As Ron and Hermione started speculating about who the new defense professor could be, he decided that the car was too stifling and stood up. He motioned Christelle to follow him out.

"Hey guys, we'll be back, okay? Just want to say hi to the others." Christelle got up reluctantly and followed him out of the compartment, but threw a sharp glance at Ginny before closing the door.

"You done shooting daggers out of your eyes?" he asked playfully as they walked down the hallway. 

"Hey, you should be putting more of an effort to keep your lady to yourself!"

He ran a hand through his hair and shrugged. "I don't know—I've tried joining the conversation, but she seems quite fixated on him. He doesn't seem to uncomfortable with it though which kind of surprises me, for Neville."

She huffed and put her hair up with her wand. He watched the wand, wincing slightly when it seemed to bend at one point with the strain of keeping her hair up. "I know it's a phase, I just wish he wouldn't respond so much to her. Makes me feel like there are jumblebugs running under my scalp."

"Hey look, that's Zabini and Bulstrode. Let's stop and say hi."

"And build up our inter-House relations." Christelle sighed and followed him in, giving them the best smile she could muster at the moment.

As they were trading summer stories, they were interrupted by Malfoy making the rounds.

"Zabini! Bulstrode!" the young wizard paused, "_Maximus?_" he eyed the twins in confusion. "Zabini, what're you doing with these mublood lovers? And Gryffindors no less. What are you doing, stooping to the bottom of the barrel?" he sneered.

"Malfoy, you should really think a bit more before you make such accusations. People will make assumptions of what side you're on and you, of all people, should know how much effect such appearances can have in one's standing."

"What are you talking about, Zabini?"

"I am merely suggesting that you rethink how you address these prominent purebloods."

"Prominent? There is no one more prominent in the political circles than Father."

"Then perhaps you should check with him then?"

"What—"

"Speak to your father, Malfoy. Before you put your foot in your mouth in an even more public place." Zabini hissed at him, gently pushing him out of the car. "You'll thank me later."

"Blood traitor!" Draco yelled at him as he joined Crabbe and Goyle in the hallway, who were looking menacingly and cracking their knuckles at Blaise. Curious students stuck their heads out of other compartments. Zabini eyed Malfoy and his body guards, and drew himself up to his full height. 

"I must disagree with you, Malfoy. I simply profess that there are more sides to the situation than you deem to recognize and I, for one, will decide where my loyalties lie _after _learning and understanding where they may serve my purposes the best. I will not rush into joining one side or another like a bloody Gryffindor." The barb did not escape the notice of the blonde haired boy, nor that of the older students listening in. They looked at Zabini with speculative eyes as he gave Malfoy a mock bow and retreated back into his compartment. Malfoy glared at his back and stormed away, Crabbe and Goyle in tow.

Inside the compartment, Millicent looked at Blaise with a worried frown. "Now you've done it. He's going to spread the word."

Zabini looked at her haughtily. "Those that are worth the trouble heard me in the hallway and _they_'ll spread the word as well."

Leevi smiled. "Malfoy didn't quite put his foot in his mouth, but when he tried to, you certainly helped him shove the whole thing in."

"Well, I'm always trying to help a fellow Slytherin, I must say." Zabini said with a small smile. 

"On the other hand, what did you mean by 'prominent purebloods'?"

"Kids talk to their parents, Maximus. The story about the Philosopher's stone got out to a few people and your role in it, although not quite as high profile as Longbottom's, is still an interesting point of conversation. Particularly when everyone thought your family had disappeared at the end of the first war."

"Huh."

"Well, thanks for taking care of Malfoy." Christelle said.

Zabini shrugged. "He's out of the loop, really. Quite unfortunate that his father hasn't seen to informing him this past summer." 

"So what's going on?" Leevi pressed.

"Just a change of pace overseas, rumors, and such." Millicent said lightly. "Nothing that will come to play in England for the foreseeable future." 

"We'd like to keep abreast of international news." Leevi said just as easily.

Zabini nodded. "We'll take that into account."

Christelle nodded at him pleasantly and stood up, pulling Leevi with her. "Thanks. We'll see you at the feast then?"

Zabini nodded briefly and pulled a book out of his trunk as they left the compartment.

"Come on." Leevi motioned her to follow him down the corridor. "Let's find the Ravenclaws."

"Seems like your hunch was right. There's something brewing and the Slytherins know about it." Christelle asked as she followed him.

"Which is why we're going to bridge the Gryffindor-Slytherin rivalry as well as any other House barriers this year."

ooOOoo

_  
_Neville walked with the Hermione, Ron, and Christelle to the carriages that were to take them to the castle. Leevi and Harry had decided to ride up with Zach and Justin in another carriage.

"What are those?" he asked.

"What?" Hermione asked. 

"Those—those things drawing the carriages?"

"They're thestrals." Christelle offered, as she walked up to one and stroked its neck. "Go on," she said. "Climb in—it needs to follow the others up to the castle and we don't want to be late."

As they scrambled onto the carriage, Hermiones asked why she couldn't see them.

"You can only see them if you've seen someone die, so for most people, it would seem as if the carriages moved of their own accord." Christelle said. Ron gulped as Neville stared off and thought about his first year at Hogwarts and confronting Professor Quirrel. 

"Wait—Leevi and I were there at the end last year with, um—Professor Quirrel—but, but what about you, Christelle? Why can you see them?" he asked.

"If you're asking who I saw die, that would be my parents." She said shortly. 

"Oh. Sorry." Neville mumbled, and the rest of the ride was spent in silence.

Once they reached the castle, they walked to the Great Hall where everyone was assembled for the sorting. After they watched first years get sorted (Ginny was sorted into Gryffindor with much cheering from her three attending brothers), the students waited patiently for Dumbledore to finish the announcements.

"And finally, I would like to announce that your Defense classes will be put on hold for the first week. Your instructor was not able to rearrange his appointments to be able to start teaching at the beginning of the term, but he will be here starting the second week of classes. In addition to the standard Defense book you were asked to purchase, there will be a few extra books that will need to be mail-ordered. Please see Professor McGonagall if you have any problems with this." He looked ready to sit down and murmurs rose among the students. "Oh yes. Please, let the feast begin." McGonagall leaned over to whisper to him as he sat down.

"Wohoo! We have one less class for the first week!" Ron cheered.

"I wonder who the professor is?" Neville wondered.

"He didn't mention it, did he?" Hermione tapped her chin. 

Leevi and Christelle just shared a look before glancing up at the headmaster. 

ooOOoo

As the feast ended, Severus Snape approached the headmaster for a quiet meeting. In his office, Dumbledore offered Snape a seat and a lemon drop, which the younger wizard declined politely.

"Severus?" the old wizard looked at him inquiringly.

"Albus, I have followed up on some international news that may need following up on. I assume you've noticed that I have been traveling this summer."

"Yes, of course. What information have you gathered?"

"Nothing I can divulge without jeopardizing it, but it is a lead I believe worthy of pursuit. However, it might mean that I would miss a few classes."

"Is that necessary?"

"I believe so, Albus."

"And this is all you can tell me?" He sent a light probing thought towards his Potions Master. Snape allowed him to touch his surface thoughts but no further. All the headmaster would gather was the truth behind his words and the fact that he wasn't planning on switching camps. Yet.

Dumbledore sat back in his chair, steepled fingers tapping his chin thoughtfully. He nodded, looking at his Potions Master over his moon-shaped glasses. He knew that he had no plausible reason to deny the Potions Master his request and if he did so it would just alienate a potential spy in Voldemort's camp that he might need in the near future. And allowing this could simply turn out to be gathering information on that third party political circles had started to whisper about. 

"All right, Severus. Keep me informed."

ooOOoo

Their first class the next day was transfiguration, where McGonagall had them turning beetles into buttons. Leevi grudgingly made some half-hearted attempts and worked on partial transfigurations until close to the end of class. McGonagall knew what he was doing, but since he'd insisted, she'd allowed him to keep up this charade as long as he exerted himself for their individual lessons. He glanced over at Christelle and saw her frowning in concentration. What was she doing? She could do this in her sleep.

He looked down at her desk and saw her make precise wand movements. The beetle's shell turned to an aquamarine color with a diagonal mark across it. She took another beetle from the box. Next to her, Hermione had stacked up a small pile of buttons and was frowning at her. He saw her lean over and whisper into Christelle's ear. His sister gave her a small smile and shook her head. He didn't have to guess at the conversation, Hermione obviously wanted to help her get the transfiguration right. 

McGonagall walked up and down the aisles and he turned back to grab another beetle and work on transfiguring it into a button. He'd have at least a couple before McGonagall got to his seat. He watched Ron attempt the transfiguration from across the room. Hermione's voice was getting louder, so he turned back to see what was going on. Christelle was frowning at her, then swept her arm across the edge of her desk where the beetles she had transfigured were buzzing about. She caught him watching them and gave a small nod over to the window, so he turned to look. The beetles were flying outside almost in a concerted manner and for a moment, all turned their carapaces towards him. The marks on their backs melded together into the shape of a protection rune. He smiled and turned back to help Neville with his transfiguration as Christelle told Hermione to stop harassing her, grabbed a beetle, and transfigured it into a button.

Well, he thought, that's one way to keep from getting bored in class. He remembered that Christelle wanted his help placing some rune stones around the castle for her gift to Hogwarts later that afternoon and tried to juggle his schedule in his mind. They were going to try balancing practicing the training they had learned this summer with their other projects—deciphering the _Treatise_ book, finding out what Snape was up to, and deciding what to do with the Chamber of Secrets being at the top of the list.

ooOOoo

During their free hour when they would normally have DADA, the students split up into small groups to pursue different activities. Harry and Ron were flying outside, trying to get some practice in before Quidditch tryouts while Hermione and Neville traded information on the books they had read the past summer. While starting out with the latter group, Leevi and Christelle soon adjourned to the Room of Requirements.

"You've been restless." Christelle commented as she sat herself down on the couch that had appeared as the room had converted itself into the study where they cast the spell that led them to this version of the world.

Leevi nodded. "I don't think Ginny has the diary, but that doesn't mean it won't turn up. We should get rid of the basilisk before Voldemort gets to it again."

"I agree that it's too dangerous to be left alone, but how do you think you'd go about getting rid of it? Do you think you could get into Dumbledore's office to get the Sorting Hat and convince it to give you the sword?"

Leevi winced. "That would be problematic. And I doubt Fawkes would come find me and drop the hat on my head like last time since I'm not precisely loyal to Dumbledore anymore." He paused. "Besides, last time Voldemort called the basilisk out—I don't know if I want to do that. I'm not sure that I could control it, not being the Heir of Slytherin and all."

Christelle gave him a thoughtful look. "We don't need to rush into it, that's for sure. Last time, it took Riddle a while to get a good hold on Ginny. If the diary is in someone's hands we still should have some time to come up with something, especially seeing as we know what we'll be up against."

Leevi nodded. "We should find a way to neutralize its eyes first and something to kill the snake itself. Let's just make it a priority okay? I don't want anyone to get petrified or worse. We should have done this last year."

"Hey," Christelle protested, "we've had a lot to work on and lives to live. We have set a lot of good things in motion and we'll deal with this as well. Come on," she said, patting his hand, "let's get going on that research. I'm sure there are some books in this study with information on dangerous magical creatures. We can also ask Damon and Melton to keep an ear out for the basilisk and have them warn us if its stirring."

Leevi nodded and smiled at her gratefully. "It's a good thing we're here together. Without you around, I'd probably have just gone into the Chamber of Secrets already."

Christelle sighed and rolled her eyes. "Bloody Gryffindors. What would the world come to if they were left to their own devices?" she asked as she pulled a book off the shelf.

ooOOoo

Friday at dinner, Dumbledore strode into the Great Hall followed by a blonde man wearing light purple robes.

"Attention, students." Dumbledore looked at the assembled students benignly and noted that most everyone was there. "I'd like to introduce you to your new DADA instructor, the famed wizard Gilderoy Lockhart." 

Several students gasped and clapped their hands as their new instructor gave them a winning smile. Hermione started to gush about all the wonderful deeds he'd done in books she had read. Leevi and Christell both groaned and dropped their heads on the table, Leevi barely missing his half-finished dinner.

**ooOOoo**

_A/N: Haha, I brought Lockhart back. Hey, he's good for a few laughs, right? Please review._


	10. Pranks and a Gift

Disclaimer: Not mine

**Disclaimer: Not mine.**

**AN: Yay! Another chapter! **

**By the way, we broke 100 reviews! I'm so flattered. I'm glad people who enjoyed padfootsrevenger's story are liking this one as well. Sorry for the slight delay in posting.**

**ooOOoo**

Christelle and Leevi walked morosely to their first Defense class of the year. Hermione was telling Ron and Neville about what she'd read about their new professor and the two second years were wavering between being incredulous and impressed. Neville looked at her doubtfully while Ron nodded absentmindedly.

"He couldn't have done _all_ that." Christelle finally interrupted as she dropped into her seat, choosing to sit next to Leevi rather than hear another student's opinion on Lockhart. Hermione sent her.

"In his second book, Professor Lockhart says—"

Leevi snorted derisively and Hermione gave him an affronted look.

"You know, he can't be as bad as Quirrel!" Neville interceded quickly.

"My mum reads his books and says he's amazing." Ron said thoughtfully.

Harry nodded. "My mom does too, says that if he did all those things it's a wonder he isn't hurt more often."

Leevi turned around as their professor descended from some stairs in the back of the classroom and watched him with distaste.

"Welcome, students, to the best class you will be attending this year!" Lockhart greeted them with a booming voice and a sweet smile. "I understand that some of you may not have been able to get the books for the course. It was simply bad timing that Albus could not contact me in time to get that set up with my being on my book tour and all." He smiled as he reached the front of the classroom. "As I assume that my coming here to teach was quite a surprise to a lot of you, perhaps we can spend the first class getting acquainted." Numerous girls sighed as he spun around to face them. "Now, who knows what my favorite color is?" Hermione raised her hand, but for once, Lavender Brown beat her to it.

"Yes… ah," Lockhart consulted the student list he had and matched the eager face with the moving picture. "Miss Brown?"

"Purple."

"Yes! Wonderful! Ten points to Gryffindor. I often wear distinctive colors to battles—"

Leevi snorted and looked bored. He glanced around the room and noticed most of the boys were as well—including the Slytherins. He took out his parchment and scribbled a note to Christelle, who was doodling on her own parchment. He wondered if they were drawings of the other elementals. He hadn't been able to see any other than Arion who he knew was around here somewhere.

At the end of the class, the defense professor asked Neville to stay after class. Leevi rolled his eyes, since he could predict with a lot of accuracy what Lockhart wanted to speak to Neville about. He remembered that awkward conversation on fame and fan mail that had occurred during his time well enough and smiled at the fact that he didn't have to go through it again. Although he did feel sorry for Neville for being stuck with that pompous git, at least they had herbology next and so he wouldn't be stuck with Lockhart for too long.

ooOOoo

"How can you learn defense without getting the course books?" Hermione asked adamantly.

"We'll manage." Leevi said dryly.

"But he has such great stories!" she protested. Ron and Harry rolled their eyes while Neville hid behind his herbology book.

"He'll tell us all about it in class anyway. Or have you or Lavender or Pansy tell us." Christelle said, wrinking her nose in distaste. "We hardly need to _read _about it as well."

"Pompous git." Ron muttered.

Hermione smacked him behind the head. "Ronald! Don't speak of him like that—he's a _professor_!"

The Maximus twins ended up ordering one set of the texts to share between them, just to keep her off their backs, but when they arrived, Leevi thumbed through them and gave Christelle an enigmatic smile. He leaned over to whisper—"You know, we may have just armed ourselves against that poor excuse for a wizard." And she smiled in return, grabbing one of the books to read.

Hermione looked at them suspiciously when they seemed to suddenly regain their interest in the course. The next day, they seemed to pay attention to class and asked a few questions about the spell casting that Professor Lockhart had used in the stories he had been telling them about. The class after that, they asked him to tell them more about his strategy when fighting against a group of vampires. She didn't know why her professor seemed to struggle to answer the questions and she admitted they were good questions. She looked at him dubiously when some of the things he said contradicted other things they'd learned from Professor Lupin, but shrugged it away. After all, _he_ had fought against them. He should know more than anyone. She paused as she scribbled a note on her parchment. Maybe there were different kinds of vampires. She could check in the library tonight.

Her trip to the library allowed the twins, Harry, and Ron to sneak into the Great Hall that night and set up a small vial above the head table.

ooOOoo

The next morning, the young Gryffindors went down to breakfast early and watched as the professors filed in.

"Oh no! Lockhart's sitting in Snape's chair!" Harry moaned.

"Hey, maybe let the greasy git get it this time." Ron suggested, stuffing some eggs into his mouth as Leevi looked towards the head table through the fringe of his hair.

"Nah, this one was especially designed for peacock remember?"

Christelle nodded. "Besides, all we need is a little help from Riphashilis. If we ask them nicely, I'm sure they'll help." Meanwhile, Leevi waved his mind discreetly to translocate the vial to just above Lockhart's cup of tea. Ron, Harry, and Neville gave her a weird look.

"What are you guys talking about?" Neville asked, as he had been called to meet with the headmaster the night before. When he'd returned to the dorms, the others had moved on to revising for the potions exam that would happen later today, so he'd missed the planning of the prank.

"What are you up to now?" Hermione asked them, her eyes darting between Ron, Harry, and Leevi.

"Me? Nothing. Really!" Leevi put his hands up. "See? I'm not even holding my wand!"

Christelle leaned backwards and shot a small spell at the vial so it tipped its contents into the cup of tea while Lockhart was trading stories with Madame Sprout. She deftly banished the vial and tucked her wand behind her ear as Hermione turned to her.

"Why do you keep your wand behind your ear?" she asked, knowing she wouldn't get anything out of the boys. "Aren't you afraid you'll lose it?"

"Oh, I most certainly won't lose it if it's behind my ear." Christelle said, smiling at her friend. "It would get lost elsewhere! Why, where doyou keep your wand?"

Twenty minutes into breakfast, Gilderoy Lockhart gasped at seeing his hands turn a light blue. A snort from the side prompted him to look at his arms and legs, seeing the color spread. The potions professor silently conjured a mirror and levitated it to his colleague.

"Feeling a little ill, Professor?" He asked snidely.

Lockhart just looked at his blue face in consternation. Then, right before his eyes, his face turned a vibrant purple color. He looked at his hands and noted the change in his skin color everywhere. He pushed himself away from the table as the students in the hall started to laugh and snicker.

"What is the meaning of this?" Lockhart asked, affronted, as Flitwick patted his shoulder supportingly.

"I'm sure it's just some of the students' way of welcoming you to Hogwarts." The diminutive professor smiled. He jumped when he saw his hand reflecting the purple color encompassing the defense professor. In a few seconds, he was colored red as well. McGonagall and Snape hastily scraped their chairs back and away from the two professors as Flitwick looked about, eyes laughingly searching for the Weasley twins. When he was met with two pairs of confused red heads holding up their hands, however, he turned to Severus.

"Seems like the prank masters are gaining apprentices!"

"Stay back from me, Flitwick! You two are contagious!" Snape barked as he stood up and left the table, black cape billowing behind him.

Lockhart left quickly after the potions master, intending to keep himself in his offices for as long as he could that day.

That afternoon…

"Professor?"

"Yes, Miss Maximus?"

Christelle sent a smile in his direction. "Did you know that Furfunacles leave violet residues on whatever they touch? They look like hinkypunks except without the lanterns. Their dye becomes especially vibrant when they're excited, although I always found it interesting how the dye becomes lime green when they start mating." Lockhart's face turned a pale version of the color just mentioned. "It seems like you might have stumbled upon one or two—do you think you could ask them to come out? I'd love to meet them! I mean, _no one_ has seen them in Scotland for ages and I'm sure—" Christelle cut off for a moment and looked behind her. "Oh, I have to go to transfiguration." She said, turning back to Lockhart. "Please think about it, Professor Lockhart! It would be wonderful to have a colony of them at Hogwarts, don't you think? I'll see you in class tomorrow!"

That evening, Headmaster Dumbledore walked Professor Lockhart to the Great Hall for dinner as the young wizard had taken to hiding himself in his office. They spoke of pleasant topics as the headmaster politely ignored the current orange professor. Lockhart put a hand on the older wizard's arm.

"Albus, don't you think you could do me the favor of removing this color charm for me? I, ah, have allowed it throughout the day to… make a point to my students, but it seems to have become quite stubborn. As the more powerful wizard, I'm sure you can remove it for me—"

Dumbledore smiled benignly and waved his wand, only to turn the professor back into a vibrant purple. Taken aback, he quickly performed a diagnostic spell and winced. "I'm sorry, my boy! I believe the colors will only go away with time as this wonderful display is not the result of a charm but a potion. Nothing to do but wait for it to pass."

"But _who_ would do this to me?" Lockhart wailed, affronted.

"I don't know, my dear Gilderoy. I don't know. Perhaps you should place the weight of this responsibility on the Bloody Phantoms that seem to haunt these halls…"

ooOOoo

In the dungeons, Severus Snape looked up from stirring his potion as his left arm gave a familiar acidic burn. He got up and hesitated. His confrontation with Quirrel hadn't given him away completely and the Dark Lord should not be at full strength. And he had to admit he didn't want to make himself Voldemort's enemy without reason. He was taking a risk, but to ignore the call would be declaring a side. He grabbed a piece of parchment and scribbled the code he'd used during the war to tell Dumbledore whenever he'd left the school to spy on Voldemort. He floo-called the headmaster's office and sent the note through before heading out past the anti-apparition wards.

"_Severus._" A harsh, low voice hissed. "_What have you to say for yourself?"_

"Master, I am distraught at not having recognized you last year. If I had known I would have undoubtedly acted otherwise."

The voice hissed angrily. Snape risked raising his eyes but could only see the back of an armchair in front of a fireplace. A masked Death Eater stood next to the chair, facing him. Even without being able to see his shadowed face, Snape took in his stance and mentally knocked a few people off the list of the inner circle this character could be.

"_Do it."_

The Death Eater in question raised his wand. "Crucio."

Snape gasped and twisted on the ground, able to at least hold his screams down to wheezing sounds this time.

"_No screams? We need to work on your spell work, servant." _The Death eater inclined his head at the armchair.

"_Snape. What do you have to report?"_

Snape started to tell him about the state of affairs at Hogwarts but the Dark Lord seemed more interested in what he could tell him about his rising competition. A few hours later, he apparated back to Hogwarts and reported to Albus.

"Come in, my boy. Lemon Drop?"

"No, thank you." The headmaster pushed a cup of tea in his direction.

"What condition is he in?"

"I don't know exactly. He appears to be summoning the inner circle to rebuild his troops."

Albus leaned forward. "Were you able to ascertain where he was hiding?"

The Potions Master shook his head as he sipped the hot tea, his hands shaking from the Cruciatus curses he'd been under. Even though they had not come close to the Dark Lord's personal best, it was still a shock to his system.

"What did you tell him?" Dumbledore asked.

"Not much. He mainly wanted to ascertain what side I was on and accepted my reasoning for staying under your employment." He paused. "The Dark Lord knows how precious children are to the Light side and sees it as good investment to have someone so close to them." Dumbledore shot him a glare, the perpetual twinkle in his eyes replaced by coldness. "He didn't order me to do more than take any advantages that might come my way, Albus." Snape said. "It's up to you to keep those limited."

The headmaster nodded, stroking his beard thoughtfully. "That can be arranged. Thank you, Severus."

Snape stood up and left the headmaster's office. When he reached his set of rooms in the dungeons, he stood thoughtfully at his desk, his fingers trailing the cover of the _Treatise._

ooOOoo

Gilderoy Lockhart went down to dinner, thinking about how he needed to get some one-on-one time with the Boy Who Lived. It would do him good to be seen with the other celebrity, but Dumbledore had denied his request to have a small book-signing event in the Great Hall. Perhaps if he was able to make it happen in Hogsmeade at the same time as one of the weekends the children were allowed to go there—oh drat, the kid wasn't a third year yet. He sighed as he reached the Head table and started to sit down. Perhaps Dumbledore would bend the rules for the famous Gryffindor.

He didn't notice Leevi flick his wrist at him—in fact, no one did, as he did it while talking to his friends, building the movement into his conversation. Lockhart's chair slid back a little and he stumbled before regaining his balance and looked back. Moving the chair closer to the table, he moved to sit down again and Leevi, with the same flick of his wrist, slid the chair back further this time. He stole a look at the Head table as Lockhart fell on the floor, his flailing arms catching the Potions Master's elbow. The Maximus twins watched as Snape growled at the defense professor, smiled and traded another high-five under the table as Albus kindly asked Lockhart if he was alright.

That was just the beginning. Every chair or surface Professor Lockhart tried to rest himself on that day shied away from under or deliberately picked itself up and moved away. He sought out Neville that afternoon to speak to him about joining him in a book signing event but when he tried to sit down at the table where Neville was studying with his friends, the chair snarled at him and reached out viciously to bite him. The Defense professor put some doubt into the agility he claimed to have in his books by stumbling over furniture as he leapt for the closest exit, Madame Pince's scolding voice behind him.

ooOOoo

Leevi and Christelle met one evening in the Room of Requirements. They had finished placing rune stones in the five corners of the school the week before and it was time to activate them.

"So any idea what this is going to do?" Leevi asked conversationally. "I can tell it's a conduit for magic, but where does it go exactly?"

"It'll allow her to absorb magic from stray spells made by students. I'm hoping it'll help her clear her senses and wake up a little more."

"Hmmm. Do you know what the castle would do with more magic? Would that give Dumbledore more power around the castle?"

"I don't think so. The headmaster has some influence on the castle because of his position and because Hogwarts trusts him to have the same goal she does: educate and protect the students. If that's not his goal… well, let's just say that Hogwarts takes care of her own."

"How?" Leevi asked, brows knitted as he drew a pentagram in the middle of the room with the ground moonstone. Christelle moved behind him, adding a combination of herbs in the five corners.

"You remember the year you started the DA and how it took the Inquisitors a long time to catch us here?"

"The Room did that? Why didn't it keep them from finding us altogether?"

"I'm not sure. But there's only so much she can interfere with, I think. She was definitely keeping Filch away—there was the time she dumped them into a broom closet when they tried to get in while we were here, that was funny! It's like… if she wants to keep you from some place in the castle, she can't keep you from trying to find it but she can move the stairs so it's extremely inconvenient for you to reach your destination. Anyway, you were right in that this is a conduit for magic—we're going to let her choose how she uses it. I think it's best, don't you? We don't want her angry at us for choosing something she doesn't like—she might decide to stop keeping the Puffskeins out and then we'd have to deal with an infestation."

"Ah." Leevi scratched his head thoughtfully trying to keep a smile off his face. Christelle didn't seem to notice.

"Let's do it, I think we're ready."

Christelle stood at one end of the pentagram while Leevi stood across from her. She murmured a long incantation and he followed with the second part, pouring magic into the pentagram. The herbs on the corners of the pentagram lit up in blue fire and the spun images of the runes they were aligned to. This would presumably activate the runes and allow their integration into the castle. Leevi stepped back and watched as the fires flared once, twice, three times, before dropping back to the ground. A wind picked up the ashes of the herbs but the moonstone powder remained still. The ashes gathered in the middle of the pentagram before dispersing through the air and this time, the pentagram flared with light and disappeared.

Christelle opened her eyes and spun around in a circle. "We did it!" she paused in her twirling to smile at him. "And she likes it."

The castle seemed to sigh contentedly as students in their rooms or their common rooms practiced their charms and hexes. Christelle and Leevi felt the slight ripple of magic and the air seemed clearer somehow. On the towers, stone gargoyles shimmered in the rising moonlight, shadows playing over their somber features in a lively fashion.

In his office, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore swept his hand across his face and down his beard. He'd felt a slight disturbance but explained it away to his tiredness as he leafed through several reports from members of the Order of the Phoenix and popped a lemon drop into his mouth. There was so much work to be done.

ooOOoo

Gilderoy Lockhart was a genius. Well, he certainly considered himself one. What better way to garner attention but by demonstrating his greatness to students and faculty alike through a dueling club? He sent notices to the common rooms of the four Houses and walked to class with an extra bounce in his step. Maybe he could invite some reporters in to do a special story about him giving the Boy Who Lived some pointers on dueling. After all, if he couldn't go to them in Hogsmeade for a book signing event (more the pity, since so many students had copies of his books—he seemed to see himself in every corridor these days), then he would bring them to Hogwarts.

ooOOoo

When Lockhart brought out the Cornish pixies, Leevi and Christelle dropped under their desks immediately. The other students shot them puzzled looks and Draco Malfoy led the Slytherins in snickering at them, but that soon changed when the pixies started to wreck havoc around the classroom. Millicent was being dragged into the air by a pair of them and Lockhart tried to regain control of the rogue pixies but only lost his wand for his trouble. Christelle stopped Leevi from drawing his wand. He looked at her curiously.

"We can stun them—" he started as she shook her head.

"The sylphs are having fun catching up with their… ah, cousins." She peeked over the edge of the table as a pixie over ended someone's bag and books, quills, and parchment fell over the student. "Let them be, the teachers can find ways to catch them." She reached out and grabbed Millicent's ankle as she dangled close by and tugged her down with Leevi's help. The pixies glared at them and then flew away to grab someone's inkpot to dump all over them. Leevi misdirected the inkpot so its contents splashed across the floor instead, just in time for Malfoy to step in it as he made a dash for the door. He slid on the floor but managed to get to the door and yank it open before dashing outside, pixies trailing his ink stained back. Well, Leevi thought smiling, it didn't show up on his dark cloak but maybe that would just mean that he would stain whatever it was he next sat on.

ooOOoo

Leevi nudged Christelle as she sat down next to him at the Great Hall. "Looks like there have been a few changes in Slytherin House."

They watched as Malfoy strolled in next to Nott, Crabbe and Goyle ostentatiously grouped around Nott rather than the blonde haired Slytherin.

"Maybe Zabini's gamble on the train paid off." She said, shrugging.

A couple of weeks later, Leevi watched the Slytherin table covertly. There was something different the last few days—it seemed like Malfoy had started to gather more of a following with students from the upper years suddenly taking an interest to what he said, even if he had shed Crabbe and Goyle. He asked Blaise about it, but the young Slytherin just shook his head, tight-lipped. He and Millicent had also stopped joining them in their study groups. The rest of the second years seemed happy about the change, but Leevi was puzzled. What was going on in that House?

ooOOoo

Children chatted excitedly as they walked to the Defense classroom for the first meeting of the dueling club. Professor Lockhart walked in, dressed in fashionable silver colored battle robes completely hindered by an elegant shimmering cape. Professor Snape scowled from the back of the room in his proverbial black.

Leevi and Christelle grudgingly followed the others.

"Maybe Snape will cream the pompous git." Ron said.

Neville laughed and ducked when Hermione's hand came up to slap them both on the head. "Don't talk about the professor like that!" Ron wasn't as fast as Neville, so he winced and rubbed his head.

The twins rolled their eyes.

"Good afternoon, my dear students!" Lockhart gave them all a bow from the dueling platform. "Today Professor Snape will be helping me demonstrate the various intricacies of a proper wizard's duel, but we will need two volunteers for our seconds. Who will be the lucky two?"

Harry, Ron, and Leevi shrank back from the platform. Christelle looked around uninterested while Neville looked up uncertainly.

"Ah! Mr. Longbottom. Please come up." Lockhart gave the second year a smile and a wink. "Let me give you some pointers on dueling, I'm sure you are one who will appreciate and need it." Leevi and Christelle suddenly looked interested again. And worried. "Professor Snape?"

The dark-haired professor simply nodded at Malfoy and the blonde Slytherin climbed up to the platform lithely.

"All right, here are the rules…" Leevi let Lockhart's speech wash over him as he nudged Christelle over and whispered in her ear.

"Did we ever find out if Nev speaks… you know?"

She shook her head. "We don't use it, remember? We haven't needed to do so since we've bonded with our familiars. And they've spent most of this year keeping an eye on You-Know-Who's pet. I've never heard Neville speak it." They turned back to watch the platform.

The professors bowed at each other, Snape stiffly and Lockhart with a flourish.

"Expelliarmus!" Lockhart said, smiling at his opponent. Snape simply snarled and flicked his wrist, putting up a shield that bounced the spell back at the Defense professor, who flew backward and hit the wall. Some students snickered. Hermione glared at them when Leevi and Christelle clapped politely.

"What?" Leevi asked shrugging his shoulders. "Snape has a fast draw."

"Well, well—ah," Lockhart stood up shakily. "That's one way of doing it! His wordless spell casting is an excellent example of—making use of your talents! Wonderful demonstration, Professor Snape!" He brushed some dust off of his robes and motioned Neville to get onto the stage. "Go on." He stepped back, a little flustered.

Malfoy stepped up on the other side of the platform. They walked to each other, saluted, and walked back five steps before turning around to cast a spell. Malfoy was faster.

"Serpensortia!" A large black snake curled out of his wand and fell onto the floor, hissing angrily. Slytherins in the audience applauded his spell casting politely while Lockhart strode up, a smile on his face.

"I'll handle this, Neville!" He said as he flourished his wand. Leevi's eyes widened and he tried to raise his own to stop the professor but the students were packed around him too tightly. Lockhart threw a curse, flinging the snake upwards. As it fell back to the platform, it hissed angrily at Millicent Bulstrode, the nearest student.

"Miss Bulstrode! Do. Not. Move." Snape walked forward slowly, trying not to send vibrations against the floor to further agitate the snake.

Neville stepped forward and hissed. Leevi and Christelle both sighed with pained faces.

"_Don't hurt her!"_

"_Sssspeaker?"_

"_Yes. Please don't hurt her or anyone here."  
_

"_Pain. From wizzzzard magic. I ssshall do asss I wisssssh… you are not my Masster!"_

"_Stay back!" _Neville flourished his wand.

"Evanesco Reptilia!" Snape incanted and the snake folded into itself, disappearing in a curl of black smoke. The classroom was silent.

"What?" Neville asked, looking around.

Millicent began to cry and backed away from the platform, Pansy's arms clutching her tightly.

Leevi wanted to bang his head against the wall. They should have thought of a way to stop this. What would happen now?

No one noticed Draco's angry eyes.

ooOOoo

The murmurs were somehow kept just so—murmurs. Dumbledore had had a private meeting with Neville, explaining the possibility that he had acquired this "talent" through his childhood experience with the Dark Lord and therefore did not mean anything about his side in the war.

What was disconcerting was the way the Slytherins that had seemed to defer to Draco in the beginning of the year were now showing Neville a similar wariness. There were no taunts about being the Heir of Slytherin however, which the Maximus twins were glad of.

Neville's friends stuck close to him anyways. The Slytherins were moving in packs and they weren't about to do any different. Ginny told off some first years who were whispering about Neville in the common room. Even though Christelle kept an extra vigilant eye on the first year but found no signs of her being withdrawn or in possession of the diary, she and Leevi renewed their research on basilisks with a vigor.

ooOOoo

The next week, Leevi found Blaise alone in the library and sat down across from him.

"Zabini." He greeted. The other boy didn't even look up. He sighed, tired of this silent treatment. "What's going on?"

"Malfoy was right." Zabini said, his eyes hard as he glanced up at Leevi. "Slytherins shouldn't debase themselves by interacting with Gryffindors and their like."

"Where did that come from? Are you saying that because of what happened in the dueling club? It's just something Neville can do, it has nothing to do with—" Leevi paused and looked at Blaise closely. "You haven't been sleeping, have you?" the other boy's eyes were bloodshot and there were bags around his eyes.

"Just stay out of it, Maximus."

"This can't be just about the parseltongue." Leevi insisted. "You've been acting all weird since two weeks into the term. What is _going on_?"

Zabini scribbled something on his parchment without looking down and placed it inside the book as a marker for the page. He continued reading silently as Leevi stared at him. As he felt Maximus start to get up, Blaise closed the book and returned it to a shelf, pausing to glance at the young Gryffindor. He waited until their eyes locked for a few seconds, then tapped the spine of the book and walked away. Leevi watched him leave the library and picked up his bag to follow him out when he paused and looked back at the book Zabini had put back on the shelf. A corner of the parchment peeked out from the pages in the book so he pulled it off the shelf and opened it to the page that was marked. It was a book on pureblood rituals, but that wasn't what caught his eye. The piece of parchment was a note and its unsigned contents made his blood run cold.

_Sorry, but the Heir has expressed His disapproval. _

ooOOoo

**AN: I'm not so good at coming up with pranks and funny stories, but I try. Also, if you are having fun imagining how things could go in the story, I welcome people's ideas—for pranks or for other things! I have a general idea of how the story is going to go and don't mind stretching things a little. And thanks to everyone that mentioned roosters as a way to defeat the basilisk, I'd forgotten about that but I believe I've come up with a way to include it in the next chapter… Coming up… Heir of Slytherin, basilisk… action and fun!! **


	11. Going after a Basilisk

Heir of Slytherin

**Disclaimer: HP characters, the Chamber of Secrets, Voldemort… none of it is mine. They all belong to JKR!**

**AN: I have a presentation and paper coming up so I can't promise the next chapter in a timely manner, but I'll strive to keep writing and post as soon as I can, as always! After all, writing is all that keeps me sane some days. Special thanks to reviewers who shared prank ideas! I'll be incorporating them to the story as it progresses.**

**ooOOoo**

"Here it is!" Leevi shoved a book at Christelle. She studied it and smiled.

"Roosters. Who knew?"

Leevi shrugged, putting the book back in the shelves and headed out of the library with Christelle. "Now the question is how we get one away from Hagrid without him noticing."

"_The basilisk is stirring!"_

Leevi stopped abruptly. "The basilisk is awake!" he said urgently to Christelle. "No time for planning," he said with a smirk. "You go grab a rooster from Hagrid's pen, I'll keep the basilisk from attacking anyone and lure it back into the chamber." She nodded, dropped her bag just inside of the library doors before running outside. Leevi turned to his mind bond with his familiar and followed its instructions to where the basilisk was.

ooOOoo

Neville walked down the stairs with Ron, Harry, and Hermione.

"Do you hear that?" he asked them.

"What are you talking about?" Hermione asked him, curiously. "I don't hear anything."

"_Kill. Mussssst kill. Huuungry…"_

"Something's hunting!" Neville looked around urgently.

"Neville, there's nothing here." Ron said nervously.

Neville took a couple of steps forward, then doubled back. "It's going this way—come on! We have to stop it!" The kids followed Neville as he ran down the hall.

ooOOoo

Christelle ran outside, barely pausing as the doors opened for her and headed to the direction of Hagrid's hut. She could see smoke coming out of the small chimney. She would have to be a little more careful since Hagrid was home. Swerving to the right, she leapt over the small corral where the roosters were sleeping. Fang poked his nose out of the door. His head soon followed and he looked at her inquiringly. She gave him a little wave and put her finger to her lips. Amazingly, the large hound seemed to understand and went back into the hut. Holding her hand out, she approached one slowly and hummed softly to it while taking her wand from behind her ear. "Stupefy." She said softly, then shrunk the rooster and tucked it in her robe before running back to the castle, smiling at how easily that had gone. The rest of the night probably wouldn't go quite as smoothly though.

ooOOoo

"_Return to the Chambersss!"_

"_Sssspeaker?"  
_

"_Yessss."_

"_Kill! Huuuungry. Musssst kill."_

Leevi was having a hard time convincing the basilisk to follow his voice along the pipes back to the Chamber of Secrets.

"_Sssspeaker, I have ssslept for long… and have finally been given permission to hunt. Huuuungry… Dirty blood polluting, weakening, Massster wissshesss them gone!"_

"_Basssilisssk, you may not hurt any of the sstudentsss here."_

The basilisk hissed angrily.

"_Master would not be pleased!" _That seemed to make the basilisk waver.

"_Follow me!" _Leevi commanded, using the tone he had developed in the previous war. The basilisk hissed submissively and followed the sound of his footsteps towards the second floor girl's bathroom._  
_

As Leevi ran through the hall, hissing at the basilisk to keep directing it, he missed a group of incredulous second years that had been running along the hall. Neville Longbottom stopped so suddenly that Harry and Ron knocked into him. Hermione had been a couple of steps behind them and slowed to a stop.

"What's going on?"

"Leevi." Neville said in a whisper. "Leevi's ordering the monster around the school." He peeked around the corner and watched him go into the girl's bathroom. "And he just went into a girl's bathroom?"

Hermione looked out. "That's the bathroom haunted by Moaning Myrtle."

Ron held her back. "Wait Hermione, you didn't hear him. He was _hissing_." Neville nodded.

"It was parseltongue." He said softly. "The monster must be some kind of snake."

"Getting around the school—leading it to the bathroom—pipes!" Hermione said suddenly. "It must be getting around through the plumbing!" She paused for a moment. "You aren't seriously thinking that Leevi was ordering the snake to hurt someone!" she said exasperatedly.

"Besides," Harry said, "It's _Leevi_. He pranks people, he would never do anything to hurt a student."

Neville shook his head. "There's no reason for him to be a parseltongue, unlike me. At least we need to find out what that's all about." Ron nodded in agreement.

"We should go to a professor—" Hermione started to say.

"And tell them what?" Neville asked. "That he was hissing to himself?"

They heard the sound of someone running and looked out to see Christelle ascending the stairs and running into the bathroom. She followed Leevi down the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, neither one of them noticing the bathroom door opening slightly as four second year students shuffled in quietly under an invisibility cloak.

The four Gryffindors entered the bathroom to watch the swirling sinks close over a large hole.

"Somehow," Harry muttered, "that looked less inviting than the secret passage to Honeydukes."

"I still think we should get a professor." Hermione huffed, crossing her arms over her chest as Harry pulled the cloak off of them. Neville was looking at the sinks curiously. "Look, you don't know what they were doing, all right? Maybe they have a reason to be talking to snakes—or did you guys forget they have snakes as pets? They could have been going off to find them. I think they were just trying to head off their pets from eating someone _else's_ pet. You boys are making a big deal out of nothing."

"Don't you understand, Hermione?" Ron looked at her exasperatedly. "_Par-sel-ton-gue."_ He emphasized.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Is this some pureblood prejudice?"

"There's a symbol of a snake at this sink." Neville muttered. Harry walked over and leaned in to look at the symbol. Pushing his glasses up higher along his nose, he reached out to trace it with his hand and gasped as the snake seemed to shimmer. He looked at Neville and smiled.

"Want to go take a look at what they're up to?" he asked.

"Harry!" Hermione stomped her foot.

"Hey," he held his hands up in a non-confrontational manner, "If they aren't up to anything sneaking up on them will be all in good fun. And if they're doing more than catching up with their pets, then we can do something about it—help or hinder." He paused as Hermione sighed. "Why don't you go grab a professor, Neville and I will go after them, and Ron can stay here to guard the entrance?"

"Hey, why do I get left behind?" Ron protested.

"Because someone needs to guard the entrance. If we can get it to open, that is."

"Why not Harry?" Ron pouted.

"Because," Harry said simply, "I have the invisibility cloak."

ooOOOOoo

They cautiously approached the young shimmering Tom Riddle sitting crossed-legged in front of the body of another student.

"Is that Malfoy?" Leevi whispered, surprised.

Tom looked up to see two students—Gryffindors of all things!—walking into the Chambers of Secrets. How did they get in? , he thought angrily. _"Attack the tresspasssersss!"_

Christelle and Leevi readied their wands as Christelle discreetly removed the stunned rooster from her pocket. Tom took hold of Draco's wand and threw a cutting curse at Leevi. As he put up a shield against it, the basilisk emerged out of the statue of Salazar Slytherin.

"_Incendio turrita!"_ Identical columns of fire launched themselves from their wands to the opening as the basilisk emerged.

"_NO!" _Tom roared as his basilisk hissed and retreated temporarily in pain. He threw a whipping curse at both Maximus twins. "Who are you and why do you defy me in my chambers?!" he demanded. Leevi ducked out of the way in time but the fiery whip caught Christelle's ankle. She lost hold of the rooster as the spell spun her through the air and landed in front of the statue at the center of the room.

Leevi turned to Tom and they started to duel. The spirit was much stronger than the one he had faced in the other Chamber of Secrets and he wondered if it was because Malfoy had not fought against the possession the way Ginny had tried to do. The Slytherin had probably been happy to offer the Dark Lord control from the beginning.

"Who I am is of no consequence." He declared, as he cast spells in quick succession. Thankful that Riddle was dueling with Draco's wand and thus avoiding the effect of _priori incantatem_, he proceeded to try to find out what Voldemort's horcrux knew. "Why have you possessed a Slytherin student?"

"Why do you care?" Riddle countered, "I've seen that you have no love for this particular student."

"That is irrelevant!"

Cold laughter hit his ears. "Young, impetuous Gryffindor. I have observed you to be advanced in your magic compared to the other students, but you are _no match for me!_"

"You'd be surprised."

He could hear hissing in the background and the sounds of Christelle battling the basilisk. If he could have taken his attention off of his own duel, he would have seen her dodging the basilisk and throwing charms and illusions to confuse its senses as most offensive spells simply bounced off its scales. Her movement was stilted by her swollen ankle, but she managed a small reprieve to _accio_ the stunned rooster to her. As she returned it to its normal size, the basilisk slithered up to her and wrapped itself around her, holding her in its coils as it turned its head towards her. Recognizing the danger, she closed her eyes tightly, aimed her wand towards her feet but slightly to the side and incanted a powerful _reducto_. Part of the spell hit the basilisk and was mostly harmless. However, another part left a large gauge out of the floor of the chamber and the sudden change unbalanced the basilisk enough to loosen its coils. Keeping her eyes firmly on the floor, she slipped out of its grasp and enervated the rooster as she rolled out of the way. Christelle was careful to aim her next spell away from the basilisk so that the rooster wouldn't turn around and see the giant magical snake.

"_Solis ortus!"_ The spell was thrown at the wall opposite her and as the illusion of a rising sun covered the wall, the rooster began to crow.

The basilisk hissed in pain and fell heavily to the ground.

"NO!"

"_Accio_ diary!"

Riddle growled, but Leevi already had the diary in his hand. "You impertinent fool!" he hissed, throwing an _Avada kedavra_. Knowing he couldn't shield against that particular spell, Leevi threw the diary in the way of the spell as he leapt out of the way. Riddle's cry of fury was drowned by his cry of pain. Looking up, he saw Christelle watching quietly as Tom Riddle's spirit glowed with the green light of the spell encasing the diary. Energy seemed to tumble out of the spirit in waves before it disappeared.

Leevi gingerly picked up the diary.

"It's still whole."

"I doubt the horcrux is destroyed," she winced as she made her way over to him. "And I doubt that would have happened if anyone else had thrown that curse."

Leevi smiled at her. "We did well for coming into this without planning it out, didn't we?"

She smiled back and looked him over. "Yes, he seemed to force our hand this time. Are you all right?"

"A few burns and scrapes. You?"

She shrugged as she limped over to Draco. "Mostly fine. Malfoy's not waking up." Her voice was worried. "Didn't Ginny wake up after you banished Riddle's spirit?"

"But that time the horcrux was destroyed." Leevi moved over to the head of the basilisk and cast _Diffindo_ a few times before removing one of the fangs carefully. "Here goes nothing." He said as he stabbed the cover of the diary. Black ink spilled out of the paper as the basilisk venom permeated the small book. He looked up as Malfoy groaned and stirred. Christelle sat near him, her wand held in a deceivingly relaxed manner in her hand.

"Malfoy." She said softly.

He looked around blearingly and swallowed painfully, his throat dry. Christelle conjured a glass of water and handed it to him. Seeing him look at it suspiciously, she sighed.

"Come on, we didn't save your arse for you to die of thirst." She held the glass to his lips and helped him drink as Leevi walked over. On the way, he tripped over something and stumbled. Christelle and Draco looked up to see him lift something from the ground. The form of two petrified students came to view.

The Maximus twins groaned.

"Who is it?" Christelle asked.

"Neville and Harry."

Christelle sighed and got to her feet painfully. Draco laid a hand on her ankle and she hissed painfully as he jerked his hand back. Leevi had his wand trained on the blond Slytherin in a second.

"Maximus--sorry." Draco whispered hoarsely. He struggled to sit up. Christelle gave her brother an exasperated look and he grudgingly dropped the cloak and moved over to help the Slytherin.

"So. How did you end up in this situation?" he asked, woefully aware that he had had years of experience with the Dark Lord that this version of Draco Malfoy had not.

Although Malfoy didn't seem to want to talk, he did venture to ask "The diary—?"

"It's gone." Leevi said curtly. "And no, you aren't getting it back. The spirit in that diary almost killed you."

"Possession does not result in death." Draco retorted, although there was no bite to his remark.

"This one would have." Leevi said, holding Draco's arm to steady him while he leaned over and pointed his wand at Christelle's ankle. _"Episkey."_ She smiled at him thankfully and walked over to the other boys, pocketing the invisibility cloak.

"Do you think it would be all right to shrink them? It'd be so much easier to leave the Chambers if we didn't have to lug them through the tunnels." She commented looking at the two petrified boys.

Leevi gave her a pained look. "I have no idea."

She slipped her robe off her shoulders, then looking around her, she waved her wand loosely in the air. "_Accio _rooster." She caught the rooster in her robes and quickly stunned it. Placing her robe back on, she shrunk the rooster and tucked it in a pocket before levitating the boys. "I don't know what the results of petrification and shrinking would be, so I guess this'll have to do." Draco couldn't seem to decide between showing his confusion or hiding behind a seemingly all-knowing sneer. He wasn't too keen on staying in here by himself though so he settled on a blank mask as he thought furiously on the last couple of weeks. How had things gotten so out of hand?

Leevi levitated Christelle back up to Myrtle's bathroom.

"Oh, hi Ron!" she said cheerfully. He gulped at the sight of her tattered and messy robes. "Here, give me a hand okay? Leevi's going to levitate Neville and Harry up next." She added as an afterthought, "They were petrified, unfortunately. But don't worry—no matter how bad they look now, they would have been infinitely worse. They'll just have to wait until the mandrakes grow up and sprout beards to get better."

Ron nodded silently, wondering what was taking Hermione so long to find a professor.

After helping his petrified friends to the bathroom floor, Ron trained his wand at Christelle. "What's going on here? What did you do to them?"

Christelle was leaning over the edge of the hole, reaching out her arm and performing _Lumos_ with her wand so it would be easier for Leevi to levitate Draco who was already grumbling at the method of travel. She looked over her shoulder at Ron.

"We didn't do anything to them. The basilisk did." She turned back to grasp Draco's hand and pulled him up the rest of the way.

"Thank you, Maximus."

"Malfoy!" Ron sputtered. "What are you doing here?"

"Getting levitated out of snake pit, what does it look like?" the Slytherin snapped. "Why are _you_ holding a wand on us?"

"Us? It's _us_ now, is it?"

"Ron, don't be a git." Christelle said. "I'm going to levitate Leevi out and then we'll tell you all about it, all right? But right now, just _be quiet_." She was starting to get a headache. Ron kept his wand trained on Malfoy but refrained from saying anything else. Just as Leevi was dusting himself off and the sinks swirled back into place, closing the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, Professor McGonagall walked in with Hermione in tow.

She looked at the swirling sinks with wide eyes. Her watchful gaze raked over her students and the color drained from her face when she saw the petrified forms of Neville and Harry. She moved quickly to check on them.

"They're only petrified, Professor McGonagall." Leevi offered.

"_Only_ petrified, Mr. Maximus?" She looked at him disapprovingly. "I don't know what you children have been up to, but we will set it straight momentarily. Now everyone—and I mean everyone, Mr. Malfoy, is marching straight to the infirmary to get checked by Madame Pomfrey. Go on." The professor carefully levitated the two petrified students in front of her as she herded her charges and one Slytherin down the stairs. She would floo Albus and Severus from Poppy's office. And probably the Potters and Mr. Longbottom's uncle. This was going to be a long night.

**ooOOOoo**

**AN: Well, I hope our venture into Slytherin's lair was fun. I have to admit to being a little less than happy with my writing for this chapter… anyway, please review! I love hearing from you all. **

**Oh, and I know the story has been following major canon events—it'll continue to do so, but there may be several sharp turns ahead. You've been forewarned!**


	12. Hello and Goodbye

**Disclaimer: If I was JKR… well, I wouldn't be in school or writing a disclaimer. None of it's mine!**

**oooOOooo**

Minerva floated the petrified students in front of her into the infirmary. Madame Pomfrey had bustled over immediately as the kids that preceded her had gone through the doors and she could see the mediwitch fussing over Christelle while the other boys had been set to lay in beds. Leevi was watching Poppy while Draco stared out the window. Ron and Hermione stood a little out of the way, looking back at Neville and Harry. Minerva levitated her charges into adjacent beds and motioned Poppy over.

"This doesn't seem like spell damage Poppy, you better take a look."

"What happened?" she asked, waving her wand and making diagnostic tests.

"That's what I intend to find out." The Head of Gryffindor House turned to her students, giving them a pointed look. Leevi gave an audible yawn. "Very well, Mr. Maximus, let us start with you." She pulled up a chair next to his bed as Ron and Hermione walked over. "Miss Granger has alerted me that you are a parselmouth?"

Leevi shot a glare at the young witch while Draco suddenly seemed interested and turned around in his bed so that he might face the group of Gryffindors.

"Now, why would she think that?" he asked nonchalantly.

Draco raised an eyebrow.

"We heard you." Ron accused, his face pale. "Neville heard that snake and you were directing it! We heard you _hissing_."

"Just because you heard someone hissing doesn't mean that I am a parseltongue! So if I say 'ribbit' all of a sudden I can hold a conversation with Trevor? Neville's pet toad." He clarified for McGonagall. "I understand what my pet snake tells me, he's my familiar. He alerted me to some danger to the school and we went to take care of it, nothing more to the story than that."

"A danger to the school?" Professor McGonagall and Madame Pomfrey echoed.

"Take care of it?" McGonagall asked as Madame Pomfrey interceded with her own question.

"Is it still a danger? How should we prepare for it?"

Leevi shook his head. "It's down in the chamber and don't worry, it's dead."

"What was it?" Hermione asked, her eyes intent as the older witches let out sighs of relief.

McGonagall's sharp eyes turned to him again. "Mr. Maximus, what was this danger to the school?"

"A basilisk."

"You killed a basilisk?!" Madame Pomfrey moved around his bed to cast more diagnostic spells on him. "We need to make sure those scratches don't have any venom in them—oh dear—"

"It wasn't me, it was Christelle!" Leevi said quickly to divert attention from himself. He _really_ didn't like the mediwitch fussing over him. Everyone turned to Christelle who was sitting at the edge of her bed, legs dangling off and her head in her palm, listening passively to the conversation.

"What?" she asked, looking up as Poppy bustled over to her. Christelle sighed and half-attempted a glare towards Leevi.

"I'm fine, Madame Pomfrey. The basilisk was too preoccupied with the gimzzlies buzzing around his ears to target me very efficiently." Everyone in the room except for Leevi gave her a ponderous look. He just wondered if all the crazy-sounding things she had said in their previous childhood had made as much sense as this if one knew what he now knew. Assuming that what she meant by gimzzlies were the sylphs, of course.

Poppy looked up, finally satisfied that the twins hadn't suffered too much from their adventure with the basilisk. Before Professor McGonagall could start her questions again however, she asked one of her own.

"Mr. Longbottom and Mr. Potter were petrified then?" Christelle nodded as the mediwitch mumbled something about mandrakes and potions, casting charms on Neville and Harry to warn her if there were any changes in their state.

"How long, Poppy?" Professor McGonagall asked. "How long will it take to brew?"

"The mandrakes are the main ingredient we're missing and they won't be ready for a few months yet." She nodded and turned back to the children.

"All right, Mr. Maximus. Continue."

Leevi shrugged. "I don't know what more there is to say. We went down to the chamber—"

"What exactly _is _this chamber?"

"The Chamber of Secrets, of course." Christelle answered McGonagall's question.

"The one that was opened fifty or so years ago?" Hermione breathed. "The last time it was opened a student died at Hogwarts! It says so in _Hogwarts, A History!_"

Ron looked around puzzled. "Who died?"

"Neville and Harry could have! Leevi and Christelle! And Malfoy!" Hermione looked at them with wide eyes.

Leevi shrugged as Christelle yawned. Draco turned around so his back was to the group. Why were they leaving out his part of the story? He remembered bits and pieces—it was starting to concern him how much of what had happened in the Chamber he could not remember clearly.

"What possessed you to open the Chamber of Secrets?" McGonagall practically hissed at them, her face pale. Draco winced at her choice of words.

"Me?" Leevi asked incredulously. "Me? No one possessed _me_. Why don't you ask Malfoy?"

The young Slytherin tensed as he heard the professor turn her chair to face him. "Well, Mr. Malfoy? I'm waiting."

He turned his head and answered, "I don't know what he's talking about. One minute I'm in my room, the next I'm waking up in some damp tunnel with the two of them hovering over me."

The Deputy Headmistress narrowed her eyes and looked at the two boys.

"So Mr. Malfoy was mysteriously transported from his dorm room to the Chamber of Secrets, a basilisk was set loose on the castle, Mr. Maximus followed it into the Chamber of Secrets where Miss Maximus slayed the basilisk while Mr. Longbottom and Mr. Potter were petrified under an invisibility cloak." Christelle was nodding absentmindedly while Leevi found the edge of the bedding very interesting and Malfoy stared at the wall. Ron and Hermione looked between the twins and their head of house.

Minerva sighed. Of all her students, why were these two of her Gryffindors the ones who seemed to get into trouble constantly? They were always twins. First the Prewetts, then the Weasleys, now the Maximus twins. Didn't the Fates know to give her a generation gap in which to catch her breath?

She looked at Poppy. Knowing the mediwitch, she would be asked to leave the children to rest in a few minutes. She wasn't fooled or dissuaded, she knew there was much more to the story than they seemed willing to tell her. Fortunately, the situation called for the headmaster's involvement and she knew she would get her answers then. No one tried to hide things from Albus Dumbledore. Now that it had been established that there was no danger to the rest of the school and the students were patched up as well as could be expected, the rest of the questions could wait until the next day to be answered.

"All right. I shall be speaking to the headmaster and Professor Snape about this misadventure. We will also be informing your parents and guardians so expect to be called to meet with the headmaster tomorrow. Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, I will walk you to your dorm. The rest of them will be spending the night here, I presume?" she directed the last towards the mediwitch.

"Of course, Minerva."

ooOOoo

After they had left and Madame Pomfrey had retired to her office, Christelle slipped off of her bed and walked over to Neville and Harry. She patted both of their shoulders before moving on and perching at the end of Leevi's bed.

"Whatever happened to Gryffindor courage and blunt truth?" Draco sneered nearby.

Leevi turned towards him and answered with his own question. "Where did you get the diary?"

Draco turned away, refusing to answer. Leevi shook his head at this reaction and turned his back on the Slytherin, feeling tired now that the adrenaline had worn off. Christelle slipped closer and cast a privacy charm that formed like a bubble around the bed. They conversed only for a few minutes before agreeing that they couldn't be sure when Neville and Harry had come in so to save future confusion, they would stick to what happened as closely as possible. She dissolved the charm but stopped next to Draco's bed before heading back to her own. Seeing him asleep, she put her hand next to his but was careful not to touch him. Knowing that Leevi was watching her, she stayed there only a few moments before climbing into bed and laying down to sleep. Neither Gryffindor noticed Draco Malfoy's eyes open and look at the small indented space next to his hand before closing his eyes and finally allowing the weariness of the past few weeks take him into slumber.

ooOOoo

Albus Dumbledore did not like surprises. Having a visit from his Deputy Headmistress in the late evening about the Chamber of Secrets, something he had hoped would never be opened after Tom Riddle's graduation from Hogwarts, was a decidedly bad start to the day. Learning that the Boy Who Lived had been petrified was worse. Knowing that the Maximus twins were involved _again_ nearly made his skin crawl. Unfortunately, he ran into Madame Pomfrey upon nearing the infirmary and was told with little subtlety to leave the questions for the morning. Interrogating the Maximus twins would have to wait. Minerva had mentioned the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets being in Myrtle's bathroom so he went up and tried to look for anything that looked like an entrance. Finding nothing, he locked the door with a heavy charm and went to bed.

The next morning, Minerva walked the two students to the headmaster's office from the infirmary.

"Peppermint toads." She said, walking onto the stairs in front of them and missing the sight of Christelle smiling and patting the gargoyle on the head before following her brother and head of house.

"Lemon drop?" Dumbledore offered. The children shook their heads and sat down in the chairs facing his desk. "Thank you, Professor McGonagall." Minerva nodded.

Dumbledore settled into his comfortable chair and looked at the three students sitting in front of him. "All right, I have been informed that Mr. Longbottom and Mr. Potter have been petrified. Madame Pomfrey has contacted several friends that may be able to help with acquiring the ingredients needed for a potion to counteract the magic that placed our two students in this position. Their condition is stable and should not deteriorate—we should have them back in the corridors in a couple of months. Now, will you enlighten me with what happened yesterday evening?"

Leevi answered his question with the same brevity he had with his head of house the previous night.

Dumbledore forced himself not to sigh as someone knocked on his door. "Come in." He wasn't surprised to see his Deputy headmistress return with Mr. and Mrs. Potter, as well as Neville's uncle. "Please, come in and take a seat. I'm sure you have many questions. We will entreat to keep this brief, as Poppy will most likely want to have the children back under observation for the rest of the day."

"Albus, what happened?" Lilly asked, her face pale. "Hello, children." She said, patting them on the shoulder as she slid into a chair next to Christelle. "Poppy said that they were stable, but—" she trailed off, looking at him expectantly. James put a comforting arm on her shoulder.

"It appears that young Mr. Longbottom and Mr. Potter acted on their sense of adventure and followed their fellow housemates into the Chamber of Secrets." Albus said, waving a hand towards the twins. Leevi clenched his jaw while Christelle's eyes widened. "They fought and slayed a basilisk, but it was only luck that Mr. Longbottom and Mr. Potter were under your invisibility cloak, James. For that was surely the only thing that made the magic of the basilisk's eyes petrify them rather than kill them." Leevi's hand clenched the armchair but moved to hold Christelle's hand tightly when he felt her move. Everyone's eyes turned to them.

"What?"

"Yes," Albus continued. "They somehow found out that the monster in the Chamber of Secrets—a chamber that has only been opened once before, fifty years ago, which resulted in the death of—"

"Leevi. Christelle." James interrupted, his eyes not moving from the twins. "I want to hear this from the two of you." Leevi swallowed hard, and Christelle gave his hand an understanding squeeze before she answered the question for the two of them.

"We didn't know they'd followed us," she said as she summarized the events, making sure that she didn't give them any more information than Leevi had given the headmaster earlier, "we even made sure that the entrance had closed before we kept going."

Lilly gave them a harsh look. "What were you thinking?? You could have gotten _killed!!_ You have professors here that will take care of such dangerous things… you didn't even have someone go get help—if something had happened to you, no one would have known where to look! And what if you hadn't found Neville and Harry?! They would be petrified down—down—there--"

"I'm sorry, Aunt Lilly." Christelle said softly as James tried to calm his wife down. Leevi couldn't meet her eyes, not knowing how to handle having giving her this heartache.

"Once you knew that the basilisk had gone down to the Chamber, what made you seek it out?" James asked, watching them with a penetrating glance he usually kept for interrogating suspects in the Auror office. He saw Leevi wince at his tone and softened his voice a little. "Why did you go after it then instead of heading to a professor for help?"

Leevi shook his head mutely and Christelle just gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. They hadn't planned for the possibility of getting caught. How could they have gone to a professor without revealing that they were both parselmouths and knew much more about the castle than a lot of Hogwarts alumni or staff?

"What are you doing about this, Dumbledore?" Neville's uncle spoke for the first time.

"Whatever do you mean?"

"I mean that these two put the lives of two other students in danger, one of which is the Boy Who Lived!" he said adamantly, slamming his hand on Dumbledore's desk and making his instruments jingle.

"Well, they will be placed on probation and under constant surveillance, for starters." Dumbledore said, keeping a smile inside.

"Surveillance?" Leevi growled, his eyes finally moving from Lilly back to the headmaster.

"Yes. The two of you have proven that you can't be trusted alone on the grounds and your actions have far reaching repercussions—the staff will be told to monitor you closely and we will place a tracking charm on you. You will also serve three weeks of detention with your head of house."

"A tracking charm? Don't you think that's a little excessive, Albus?" James asked.

Dumbledore shook his head. "It's not excessive seeing as their actions could have caused the deaths of two students. We will be bringing this incident in front of the Board of Governors once the two students reawaken from their petrification."

"The Board? We were just trying to avoid someone getting hurt!" Leevi protested. "We would never have gone there if someone _else_ hadn't opened the chamber and woken up the basilisk! We didn't _know_ that Neville and Harry were coming behind us, if we knew we would have stopped them!"

"But you would have gone ahead yourself?" Dumbledore interrupted, shaking his head. "You see, Leevi, this is not only to make sure that you are not a danger to others, it's also to make sure that you do not endanger your own life or the life of your sister."

Christelle glared at the headmaster. "I can take care of myself fine, thank you very much."

"Christelle, watch your tongue!"

"Yes, Aunt Lilly."

"Putting them on probation is nothing." Neville's uncle protested. "They should be expelled! Or at least suspended."

"We got rid of a basilisk that would have hurt other students on school grounds and you want to kick us out?" Leevi was livid.

"You, young man, opened a Chamber that was best left closed as it has been the last fifty years." Dumbledore snapped.

"With all due respect, headmaster," Christelle said tightly, "Mr. Malfoy had _already_ opened the Chamber of Secrets and the basilisk was _already roaming_ the castle."

Dumbledore clapped his hands loudly, ignoring her completely. "It is settled. The children will take their punishment and be placed on _probation—_" he couldn't risk letting them out his sight now, even though he wished for their influence on the Neville gone, "while Mr. Longbottom and Mr. Potter wake up to tell their version of the story, upon which we will revisit both their punishment and the conditions of their attendance at the school." Albus said with finality. "Now, I'm sure you will want to see your boys in the infirmary." He said kindly and slowly getting up from his chair. Everyone else in the room rose with him.

ooOOoo

Madame Pomfrey kept a careful eye on her three patients. Draco Malfoy's magical core was slowly restoring itself and due to much pressure from his influential parents, had been moved to a corner of the infirmary where she had conjured some curtains to give him some privacy. No matter how much his father cajoled, she wasn't going to _make_ him a separate room where she wouldn't be able to keep an eye on him and his visitors. The other two second years she only kept under observation for a couple of days as they seemed to have come out of their adventure relatively unscathed. Neville Longbottom and Harry Potter were secluded in another corner of the infirmary, where she did daily check ups even though she knew their condition would not change.

The day she let the Maximus twins out from under her watch was the day the headmaster asked them to show him the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, so as to make sure it was safe for the school.

"Yes, Mr. and Miss Maximus, it is necessary for me to take a look at this Chamber of Secrets. Professor Snape is coming along, since he can collect several wonderful potion ingredients from this basilisk you say you've slayed." He said, heading towards Myrtle's bathroom in his light blue robes. Leevi sneaked a glance at Christelle, who looked at the portraits lining the hallway absentmindedly. The dark haired Potions Master brought up the rear, watching them carefully.

They reached the door to the bathroom and Dumbledore waved his wand, dismantling the ward he had placed there a few days ago before walking in. When Leevi entered, he simply walked around the sinks and shrugged.

"This is where it was, headmaster. There was a big hole there, going down into the Chambers."

"Well, what are you waiting for, Maximus?" Snape asked curtly. "Open it."

Leevi shrugged innocently. "I don't really know how it happened, it just opened." He felt a prickling feeling at his temple and clenched his jaw. They really were unbelievable.

"Mr. Maximus, I'm not sure you understand the severity of your position. Without proof to corroborate your story, we have grounds for an expulsion."

"Oooooh, Melton!" Christelle cooed as her snake slithered into the room. She walked up to it and allowed it to climb up her arm. She walked around the headmaster to stand next to Leevi and peered at the sinks. "Look, there's a relief of a snake on this sink."

Dumbledore and Snape walked over to look at it more closely.

"Maybe you should send some unlocking spells at it." Leevi suggested lightly. They did so to no avail. The twins leaned back against the wall and just watched them amusedly. Finally, they stepped back.

"However did you get this open, Mr. Maximus?"

"I'm afraid I can't say, Professor Dumbledore. I'd really like to, but I can't." he answered, shrugging. "Can we go to the Great Hall now? Neither one of us have had breakfast and classes are starting soon."

Dumbledore nodded and waved them away, pretending to study the entrance to the chambers. He watched them discreetly as the twins left the second floor, making a decision to send for Flitwick. Perhaps the Charms Professor would have more luck unlocking the entrance.

ooOOoo

"_Report!"_

"Yes, Master. Our preparations for your return are well under way and the subservience of half of the Inner Circle has been confirmed. I am still hunting down a few more, and the others are in Azkaban."

"_What of Lucius and his son?"_

"…"

"_Report!"_

"M—Master, Lucius has pulled his son out of Hogwarts. My source tells me the assignment was—unsuccessful—"

"_And the diary?"_

"We are still trying to retrieve it, Master."

_"You are not endearing yourself in my eyes with your constant failure." The Dark Lord snapped. "Focus on getting ready for the ritual, or I'll set Nagini upon you—"_

ooOOoo

As no one Dumbledore brought in was able to open the Chamber of Secrets and the twins refused to do so, the headmaster called another meeting with the Potters.

"I'm afraid it's not safe to have students here that will not listen to their superiors with regards to their knowledge of a potentially dangerous situation. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask the twins to withdraw temporarily from the school, at least until the petrification has been lifted from Mr. Longbottom and Mr. Potter."

Lilly Potter merely raised an eyebrow before heading to the Gryffindor tower to take the Maximus twins home.

A month and a half passed before the Restoration Potion finished brewing. Rumors of parselmouths in Gryffindor and enemies to the Boy Who Lived ran rampant, despite Hermione's best efforts. Without Leevi and Christelle there to combat the murmurs, they ran wilder and wilder over the course of weeks.

Harry and Neville were brought back a few weeks before Christmas, and their guardians were called in to see their restoration. A couple of hours afterwards, they were yawning, trying to keep sleep at bay and Madame Pomfrey shooed their visitors out, except for the Headmaster. He approached the boys with a pensieve.

"Neville. Harry. I'm so glad you are finally back with us. But we really need to know what happened that night so many weeks ago. Mr. and Miss Maximus have been less forthcoming than we would like, while Mr. Malfoy has no recollections of the evening. You understand that we need to check for further dangers hidden in the Chamber of Secrets?" he paused before holding out the pensieve. "I need your memories of that night."

ooOOoo

**AN: Finals for the semester are coming up, so the next update will probably be at the end of April…**

**Thanks for staying with the story! Would love to hear your thoughts, so please R&R.**


	13. Potter Manor

Disclaimer: HP characters belong to Rowling

**Disclaimer: HP characters belong to Rowling.**

**AN: Upon request, I'm taking a small step back and going into further detail about the Maximus twins' suspension from Hogwarts. Sorry about the delay on this update!**

**ooOOoo**

James stepped out of the fireplace and stared at the kitchen table, where Leevi and Christelle were helping Dorian and Jasmine clean up the table for dinner.

"All right. Why did I come home to find four children instead of the expected two?" he asked wearily.

"They wouldn't cooperate with the headmaster and he sent them home." Lilly said as she walked in, levitating dinner onto the table. "We'll talk about it after dinner, dear." She said, kissing his cheek. "How was work?"

James grimaced and shrugged out of his Auror robes. "Same old, same old."

They sat down to dinner the conversation greatly lightened by stories of the two youngest Potters and their latest adventures in trying to drive each other crazy, not to mention Lilly. After putting everything away, James sent Jasmine and Dorian upstairs before sitting down next to Lilly at the kitchen table and waving Leevi and Christelle to take a seat.

"Begin."

Leevi and Christelle exchanged glances before he spoke up. "We didn't open the Chamber of Secrets as Professor Dumbledore asked and he sent us home for insubordination."

_Insubordination?_ James thought. _These kids have better vocabulary than some Auror trainees. Or maybe he's just repeating something he heard Dumbledore say. _

"You realize that your actions—no matter the intent—"Lilly added hastily at seeing their expressions start to close up, "did have dire consequences for two students, one of them my own son. It's the responsibility of the school staff to make sure it doesn't happen again, which is why you should have cooperated with the headmaster." She said sternly.

"The basilisk is dead. It's not going to hurt anyone anymore!" Christelle huffed.

"But leaving a dead basilisk laying around isn't a good idea. It is still venomous, and could be harmful for students that may find a way to open the Chamber as you did." Lilly countered. "Besides, the staff has to _make sure_ that the danger is gone, they can't take the word of students when they have the ability to check for themselves. What if you misinterpreted the basilisk hibernating for it being dead?"

"They can't check it, so why _don't _they just take our word for it?"

"Watch your tone, young man." James reprimanded softly, kneading his temples. It had been a long day at the Ministry and he _really _wanted to have a quiet evening.

"Because Harry got hurt!" Lilly almost screeched. Leevi and Christelle sat back in their chairs.

James patted her hand softly. "It's all right, Lilly. He'll be fine as soon as the potion is made. No lasting damage done." He turned to the twins. "Perhaps if you shared your memory of what happened in the Chambers, Albus would let it go. Aurors take eyewitness accounts very seriously and I'm sure the headmaster would as well. Point in fact—why hasn't he asked for that?"

"He did—in a way." Leevi answered, keeping his eyes trained on the table.

"And?"

"We're not cooperating." Christelle said unnecessarily.

James took a deep breath and squeezed Lilly's hand to keep her from responding to that. "Why not?" he asked softly. He was tired, this seemed like childish stubbornness and he didn't have the patience for it. Not tonight.

Leevi and Christelle stilled at his tone. Despite its softness, they recognized that they were treading dangerous ground. Christelle glanced at Leevi. Was keeping the secret that they were parselmouths worth all this trouble? After all, they might find out anyway when Neville and Harry woke up—he shook his head.

James noticed the silent exchange and rested his head back against the chair.

"All right. How long were you suspended for?"

"Until further notice. The headmaster's decision will be reviewed upon reawakening of Harry and Neville." Both adults blinked at Christelle's formal tone.

"You're grounded." James said, nodding to the stairs. "Until further notice as well. Go up to bed."

ooOOoo

The next morning, Christelle slipped into Leevi's bedroom, ignoring the Notice-Me-Not charm, jumped onto his bed and reached in to grab the wand tucked under his pillow as she rolled over him and fell to a crouch on the other side of the bed, only to get tackled off the bed.

"Ooooof!" she said as she pushed him off. "Okay, so your reflexes are still good. I _did _get to your wand though." She said, playfully waving it in front of him. He snorted and grabbed it from her hand.

"I could have wrestled it from you before you got a chance to do anything with it!"

"Want to try me?"

Leevi smiled. "Maybe later. You're on guard now." He sighed as he sat back on the bed. "This turned out a bloody mess, didn't it?"

"Yeah."

"Well, what should we do about it?"

"I'm kind of glad to not be under Dumbledore's watch all the time, to be honest. It's tiring to go against him all the time, to be on guard when no one else sees what we do. I have newfound respect for Snape."

Harry snorted, nodding. "You have a point there. As his spy, he not only had to deal with him the most, but his life was constantly in the old man's hands. No wonder he was a git."

"Hmmm… we still need to get rid of these tracking charms he has on us."

Leevi stared at her. "Bloody hell, I almost forgot about those. Let's hope Aunt Lilly _does_ forget about them, otherwise she might use them to check up on us. And _that_ could be detrimental to my mental health."

Christelle laughed. "I think that might be the least of our troubles right now. Your mental health, I mean."

"Come on, let's get breakfast, then plan what we're going to do on our little vacation. I'll meet you downstairs after I've cleaned up some."

ooOOoo

Lilly walked down the stairs slowly, leaving James asleep upstairs. As it was Saturday morning, she expected everyone to sleep in a little and was surprised to see the twins cleaning up after themselves in the kitchen.

"Good morning, Aunt Lilly." Christelle whispered as she slipped past her and back up the stairs. Leevi glanced at her, said "Good morning" softly, and headed upstairs as well. She leaned against the door frame and took a deep breath. Then another. _What was that appetizing aroma?_ She walked over to the oven and pulled out a tray of… _muffins?_

After having her breakfast of a tasty gobbleberry muffin and orange juice, she went upstairs in search of the twins, finding them sitting together in Christelle's room, watching the door as she came into view.

"Good morning, you two. Thank you for breakfast." She said from the door frame. "Well, suspended or not, we're not going to let your education be placed on hold. Jasmine and Dorian have study schedules and you will too. So let's go over how you're doing in school." She said, drawing up a chair next to them.

"Ummm, actually, we're doing pretty well in all classes." Leevi said.

"Even Potions." Christelle added helpfully.

"What about Transfiguration and Charms?" Lilly asked. "Professor Dumbledore mentioned you getting some tutoring in that.

"It's not remedial tutoring. We had some interests outside of what was being covered in class and McGonagall and Flitwick were kind enough to indulge us."

"Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick." Lilly corrected immediately. Leevi smiled as she stared off thoughtfully. "All right, show me something you can do. Something in transfiguration, and something in charms. I think I remember what we covered in second year, but I'd like to see your books and class notes."

"Maybe you should show her yours." Leevi suggested.

Christelle shook her head quickly, then grimaced. "Yours as bad as mine, I'm guessing?"

"Probably worse."

Lilly watched them with raised eyebrows. "Now I'm going to see both sets. Bring them out, both of you. We'll start with those two and work through the subjects. Something tells me you could use some remedial History of Magic if Binns is anything like I remember him being!"

Leevi grimaced and went across the hall to gather his things while Christelle rummaged through her trunk to pull them out. They laid it on the bed in front of Lilly and watched as she thumbed through Leevi's book first. "Whether or not you're getting extra tutoring in class doesn't mean you can stop paying attention during lectures." She admonished, as she picked out an exercise from the middle of the book. She floated a quill on Christelle's desk over, transfigured it into a teacup and handed it to Leevi. "Transfigure that into a bowl."

Leevi did it with ease. She nodded and turned to Christelle. "Turn it back." Christelle turned it back into a quill and Lilly started, surprised. "I—I meant into a tea cup."

Leevi leaned over helpfully and transfigured it into a teacup. "Why didn't you say so?"

She shook her head to clear it and picked up Christelle's Charms textbook. They were certainly didn't need any tutoring in transfiguration—they were at least at fourth, maybe fifth year level if they were changing teacups and bowls into quills with that ease. She thumbed through it and smiled at the drawings of numerous magical creatures, most of which she was sure were imaginative, magic or not. "No daydreaming in class, Christelle. Especially in an important field like Charms!" she said. She put the book down and asked them to work through the charms on the page, not noticing that the pictures she saw were actually designs for rune circles hidden under a charm.

ooOOoo

The next two weeks were relatively calm at the Potters. Leevi and Christelle helped Lilly tutor Dorian and Jasmine, kept up with work from school sent over by McGonagall at Lilly's request, and perused the Potter library. And attended to numerous owls. In fact, they had been keeping in touch with some students from Hogwarts—although it seemed that the rumor mill had taken to painting them in an unfavorable light, which wasn't helped by their suspension and the petrification of the Boy-Who-Lived. At least they learned that Hermione, while scared and concerned for her petrified friends, didn't shun them completely since she'd seen how adamant Neville and Ron were. Apparently Ron was at the head of the rumor mill. It was interesting that of the members of their study group, only Hermione, Blaise, and Alex Kent from Hufflepuff replied to their letters. The Slytherin's letter was carefully crafted but relatively neutral.

"You two receive quite a bit of correspondence." Lilly noted as the third owl that week dropped a letter in front of each Leevi and Christelle.

Leevi shrugged. "We're keeping in touch with some people in Hogwarts, and we're also in charge of the Maximus estate. Sometimes an executive decision must be made."

Lilly's eyebrows raised in surprise. She hadn't realized that the children were actively managing their inheritance! "Would you like some help in managing your inheritance? James and I would be more than happy to help."

"Thanks Aunt Lilly, but it really isn't necessary. Our parents left us an administrator and advisor for our funds besides, we've both been aware of our investments for a while now."

Christelle sat quietly, clenching the letter in her hand quietly. "Leevi, can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked, standing up. One look at her prompted him to get up quickly.

"We'll be back down for lunch, Aunt Lilly." He said, leading her up the stairs. Once in her room, he locked the door and set up some silencing charms. "What've you got there, Christelle?" She wordlessly handed her the letter and watched as he read the short note and chuckled.

"Well, we were getting a tad bored at Hogwarts, weren't we? And this'll definitely throw the old headmaster in a loop. Think they'll take transfer students in the middle of the year?"

Christelle smiled and leapt forward to give him a hug. "Thank you, Leevi. Thank you so so much!"

"Hey, it's the least I can do. Although I do wonder—what's your father doing in Durmstrang?"

ooOOoo

The Maximus twins quickly penned a letter to the investigator Gringotts had secured for them, asking him to send them more information about the school and their policies. A couple of days letter they got a large package and sat looked over it in Leevi's room.

"Looks like a military-style school." Leevi said, working through a small pile of parchments. Christelle was reading one carefully and nodded.

"They're very exclusive in who they allow to attend—much more so than Hogwarts. They have entrance exams—written, followed by a practical… I expect we won't find any muggleborns there."

"Well, at least it's not an all-boys school." He said with a smirk, "I had gotten that impression from the Tri-Wizard Tournament—'_sons of Durmstrang!'_ remember?"

She laughed and nodded. "I'll write Karkaroff to let him know we're interested and see about getting us the written entrance exams. I hope we can put off sending them records from Hogwarts for a while." She paused then asked quietly, "are you sure about this? You realize that leaving Hogwarts for Durmstrang isn't going to sit well with lots of people—including Lilly and James."

Leevi thought for a moment and shrugged. "I've spent the last couple of years getting to know them and enjoying their company—I think Lilly will understand, although James will probably have a fit. Harry won't be happy about it either, I'm guessing. In any case, we need to get out of under Dumbledore's thumb, there is something going on concerning another force in the war that we haven't been able to gain information on while in Hogwarts… and there's no way I would ever take this opportunity away from you. That is the main reason we're going and the other stuff is just perks from the situation. What do you think about leaving Nev behind though?"

Christelle looked sad for a moment but gave him a half-smile. "You know, I could ask the same thing about Ginny. But I think they're both different from the kids we once knew. Giving them some space to grow is probably in order. Besides, we can visit often right? The brochure notes that most students in Durmstrang take the weekends to visit their estates and that they are allowed off the grounds once their destination is found to be secure."

"Which means we can crash Hogwarts' Hogsmeade weekends." Leevi said with a smirk.

"And make some trips to Griffin Inceptum and take a closer look at what they've developed. Raxiel is pushing for commercialization—"

"Kids! Lunch!" Lilly called from downstairs. The twins scooped up the brochures and swept them under the bed before heading down, both of them with plans swirling in their minds.

ooOOoo

**AN: I feel like I've put in a bunch of sub-plots that are getting hard to manage, so there may be more time between updates as I try to juggle them all. I place the blame on my inexperience in writing... so hopefully it'll get better soon. Thanks for staying with the story! **


	14. Hurdles

**Disclaimer: HP isn't mine, it's all JKR's…someone give her a cookie! Oh wait, she has loads of money so she can pick up her own. Oh well. **

**A/N: I had a hard time writing the last part of this chapter, so I'd appreciate any thoughts my readers may have on improving it. Thanks!**

**ooOOoo**

Lilly walked into the manor with Dorian and Jasmine after being out for most of the morning. She had asked the twins to come along but both had cited a wish to stay behind—she shook her head and smiled. _Well, the house is quiet so at least they aren't up to something._ In the mood to cook, she sent her youngest children upstairs to get cleaned up, while she started to prepare a light lunch.

Upstairs, Leevi and Christelle shared a look when they heard the front door open and close and two pairs of footsteps going up the stairs. Quickly, they bent down and tried to finish up those entrance exams as fast as they could.

ooOOoo

Remus had loved teaching, but this job was turning into a close contender. To start with, he spent his time with people that accepted him for who he was, who tried to understand lycanthropy itself to engineer something that would be helpful to all those affected by it. Then, he had the chance to bring this to different werewolf packs and lone werewolfs, offering them wolfsbane under observed conditions: a stay in the warded forest near the Inceptum on the week leading up to and the nights of the full moon. All they had to do was accept a portkey.

The starting numbers were few for lack of trust and most of those that accepted were newly converted or lone werewolfs, but he couldn't but help feel hopeful. He turned to discuss a tactic with Edward Kent for informing werewolf packs as they were the most resistant to trying the potion when Jonathan Pearce walked in waving a letter.

"What's the news, Jon?" Edward asked.

"Just wanted to let you know that I need to take an afternoon off next week—do you think we can plan out what day works best?"

"Sure. Here, take a seat. We can work it out so while you're gone, I can work more closely with Remus's project."

"What are you guys working on now?"

"Trying to come up with a charm to remember the nights of the full moon a little more clearly. The wolfsbane helps, but we were thinking that a comparison of what it's like with and without the wolfsbane might encourage others to try it." Remus answered. "Unfortunately that means someone has to go through a few months without the potion so we can try out the charm and gather the memories."

Jonathan grimaced. "I can see why one would be reluctant to do that, although your plan might work even without it. The Defense department could spare me Monday or Wednesday afternoon—would either one of those work for you, Ed?"

Ed summoned a parchment with the schedule of the Charms department and nodded. "Wednesday looks like a better fit for me. So where are you off to, anyway?"

"Alma mater calls. Some kids want in at Durmstrang and need to take the practicals." He laughed and shook his head. "It's only the third time they ask me to oversee them, usually they have summer volunteers for that but these twins want to transfer in the middle of the school year. Unusual, certainly."

"Where are they transferring from?" Remus asked, furrowing his brows.

"Hogwarts, actually." He gave his coworker a rueful smile. "Now, don't get all philosophical on me and start one of your speeches of how great _your_ alma mater is. I'll have you know that Durmstrang is a great place to learn—a little more rough than your average school perhaps, but anyone with a good head on their shoulders will be fine."

_There are only two sets of twins that I know if in Hogwarts,_ Remus thought. _Unless there are a couple of first years that are twins… surely not—_he cut off this line of thinking and shook his head at Jonathan. "Sure, you turned out okay so there should be some hope for the rest, huh?"

Jonathan snorted nonchalantly and stood up. "Wednesday it is then, Ed. See you around, Remus."

Remus smiled back at the Durmstrang graduate and made a mental note to visit the Potters that weekend.

ooOOoo

Remus stepped out of the fireplace and greeted James with a smile.

"How's the new job treating you?" James asked knowingly.

"Great! Can't complain about the chaps at GI, but I have to admit—" he looked around to make sure the children weren't around, "my status as Albus's messenger for the Order makes it a bit confusing when I try to provide others with the wolfsbane. There's always the underlying question of whether or not the GI will withhold the potion if they don't agree with Dumbledore's cause."

"But you aren't just giving it away freely to _all_ werewolves, are you? Imagine what Voldemort could do with that—"

"James, I'm not dragging my job into the war. We're taking precautions with those that accept the potion—" his sentence trailed off as he heard the sounds of footsteps rapidly approaching the living room. A few seconds later, the kids barged in. Leevi rushed in with Christelle hot on his heels and was halfway up the stairs before he heard calls of "Hello Uncle Moony!" from both of them. Dorian and Jasmine stopped at the base of the stairs, panting hard.

"Hi—Un—cle—Moony!" Jasmine said with a smile.

Dorian simply waved while heaving, putting his hands on his knees.

Remus smiled. "Hello Jasmine, Dorian. Having a fun time outside?"

Dorian nodded excitedly while Jasmine rolled her eyes good naturedly. "Leevi's _awesome_ on a broom!" Dorian finally said, straightening up.

"We started with follow-the-leader, then had broom races, and then we lobed water balloons at Leevi while Christelle shot water jets with her wand and he had to weave around them all—and then he started to shoot back…except he ummm… turned Christelle's hair orange."

"I _was_ wondering what that orange blur was." James muttered. "I didn't think she was wearing orange earlier today."

"Are you joining us for dinner, Remus?" Lily asked, stepping in from the kitchen.

"I'd love to, Lily."

With one pointed look from Lily, the kids ran up the stairs to get cleaned up while James and Remus entered the kitchen to give Lily a helping hand.

"You know, I've heard rumors around the Ministry about inquiries being made on Griffin Inceptum for their products. I don't think Fudge wants cognizant werewolves any more than Dumbledore does."

"James." Remus gave him a sharp look, "The more cognizant werewolves are, the more they can be held responsible for their actions."

"And the more damage they can do!"

"Or maybe the opposite would happen! Do you think all werewolves follow Voldemort?"

"I'm just saying that we should make sure they are on the right side before—"

"James Harold Potter, I hope you are not insinuating what I presume you are insinuating." Lilly interrupted.

James swallowed hard.

"You have a say in how the potions are distributed, right Remus?" she asked, smiling at their friend. The werewolf in question nodded with a small smile. "Well then I'm sure you're doing all you can to make sure that no one is hurt in the process—including those that are _not _werewolves. Now both of you go set the table and get the kids to come down for dinner."

James looked at Remus apologetically as Lily walked back into the kitchen. "I'm sorry Moony—I didn't mean to say that. I'm just wary of giving any advantages to the Dark Lord."

"I know, Prongs. Come on, let's set the table before Lily comes after us again." He smiled and grabbed a pile of plates before heading to the dining table.

Dinner was a light affair, with the children regaling them with tales of their afternoon adventures. After dinner, Remus sought out the Maximus twins who were reading in the library.

"Leevi, Christelle. How are you two doing?"

They put down their books and smiled at him. "We're doing fine, Uncle Remus. How's the new job treating you?"

"Great! How about you two? How's school going for you?"

Leevi shared a glance with Christelle and smirked. "You know we're supposed to be in classes now, right? Dumbledore suspended us."

"Professor Dumbledore, Leevi. And yes, I heard about what happened to Harry and Neville. I was wondering if you wanted to talk about it?"

"Not much to tell, Uncle Remus." Christelle said, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. "We were doing what we thought was right and they got hurt by following us—"

"Even when we didn't ask for any help." Leevi added.

Christelle nodded. "At least we know that they've only been petrified and will come out of it none the worse when they get the revitalization potion done."

"Tell me, why do you think Headmaster Dumbledore suspended you?"

"He doesn't trust us." Christelle answered.

"Do you trust him?"

"No, not really." Leevi said nonchalantly. Remus frowned.

"Why not?"

"He tried to get custody over us when we first got here."

"He oversteps boundaries without taking others into consideration, all for his vision for wizarding kind."

"And he believes he should be exempt from all the rules."

"We're not saying he's a bad person, we just don't trust him to have our best interests at heart."

Remus sat down hard on one of the chairs in the study. _How did children gather such ideas in less than two years?_ "He _is_ trying to do what he believes is best and running a magical school is not the easiest thing to do. The most important thing to Albus Dumbledore is the school and the children that inhabit it. Why do you feel that he doesn't have your best interests at heart? He has a lot more experience than the rest of us. The man is almost a hundred and fifty after all." He said with a smile. Unfortunately, the silence that met his comment wiped the smile off his face.

"We have our reasons." Christelle said, finally. "Don't forget that we've been looking after ourselves for a while now Professor Lupin. We know how to listen to others but we make our own decisions. When it counts, Headmaster Dumbledore wants to control, not give guidance."

With a sigh, he shook his head and asked, "I'm not here as a professor—I don't even teach anymore. I'm here as a concerned uncle. Are your impressions of the headmaster pushing you to rethink your decision to attend Hogwarts?"

"And if we are… then what, Unlce Remus?" Leevi asked, keeping eye contact with Remus as picked up his book.

"I just want you two to know that if you want to talk about the decision or any of your past and future experiences, I'll try to listen with an open mind… although I wish you would consider Beauxbatons over Durmstrang."

Both twins smiled at this and nodded. "Thank you, Uncle Moony." And they left the conversation at that.

ooOOoo

Leevi and Christelle followed Raxiel to a back room and promptly walked out of Gringotts through a side door that could only be opened by goblin magic. Raxiel handed them a small stone that would alert him of their return upon the casting of a simple charm. He promptly turned his back on the kids and went back to his post in the bank. The twins skirted the areas where Lily, Jasmine, and Dorian were likely to be doing their Christmas shopping and headed to a lesser known area of Diagon Alley. A few roads off of the main alley, they found the location designated by the Durmstrang representative in their summons for their practical entrance exam. After knocking lightly, they were let inside by a man in his late thirties.

"Leevi and Christelle Maximus?" he asked gruffly.

"Yes sir." They answered, their wands already in their hands although hidden from view by the long sleeves of their cloaks.

"Come on in, then. We have a fair amount to do." Once inside, he extended a hand to them. "Jonathan Pearce. I'm a Durmstrang alum and am here to gauge your level of practical knowledge for consideration into Durmstrang Academy. Put your cloaks away and meet me in the middle of the room when you're ready." He walked away and left them to put away their outerwear. The twins walked into the designated rooms with their wands in their hands, eyes attentive. Upon seeing their examiner sitting at a table looking through some parchments, both of them started doing some warm up exercises to loosen up their muscles after the cold walk outside.

Jonathan watched them from the corner of his eyes. The kids were disciplined—no unnecessary talking between each other, efficiently warming up and loosening muscles, an attitude that was normally drilled into first years at Durmstrang but unless he was mistaken, not at Hogwarts. Their theoretical exams proved them to be ahead of their peers in terms of knowledge but lacking in understanding of the world. Knowledge of history was atrocious although they seemed unformed in their political ideologies. Well, Hogwarts wasn't known for fostering that sort of understanding, with the segregation of the Houses and all. He gave them another five minutes before standing up. They immediately came to attention, watching him intently. If he didn't know better, he would have thought they were in their third year in Durmstrang by the level of their discipline alone. Excellent.

"We will start off with some Charms and Transfiguration, followed by Potions and Dueling. Please take turns performing the charms and transfigurations noted here," he said, handing them two sheets of parchment. "You can use any of the objects here to show your knowledge of spells," he enlarged a box for each of them. "The exam is timed for twenty minutes each, go through as many of the transformations as you can. Keep in mind that your progress is being monitored. Start."

The twins worked quickly, but tried to pace themselves to what they believed a second year should be able to do. That is, until Jonathan slammed his hands on both of their desks. "I can tell when wizards and witches are holding back and I suggest you do not try to do so."

Christelle sneaked a glance towards Leevi and together they resumed their progress, working faster than before but nowhere near as fast as they could under pressure. Fortunately it seemed to be enough for Mr. Pearce.

At the end of the forty minutes, he marked their progress on his parchment and told them to take a small break in the adjoining room. When they were called to return, a long table had been set up in front of their desks with potions ingredients and different cauldrons.

"Your potions practical is to choose a potion to brew. Keep in mind that you only have one hour before for brewing and must submit a bottled vial as a sample of your work at the end of the hour. No extensions will be made. Ingredients and other supplies are yours for the taking. Instructions of possible potions to make are in the small books at your desks. Begin."

Both Christelle and Leevi started by flipping through the books quickly and choosing a potion each. Interestingly, not all of the potions listed would have been able to be finished within the time allotted and some would cut it too close. Both twins chose potions of mid-level difficulty that they had had experience brewing before that had low brewing times before heading to the long table to pick out ingredients. They worked diligently, starting with preparing the ingredients they would need first and working on the others as the initial concoctions bubbled away. Jonathan watched them, wondering what potions they had chosen to make. Alas, he would not know until the vials were turned in with their labels written and adhered to their sides. He was beginning to think there was more to these children than the Durmstrang deputy headmaster had alluded to however. He watched as Christelle bottled a sample of her potion, labeled it, and brought it up to him. The label on the vial declared the potion to be a nutritional supplement—one that, if his memory served him right, was introduced to third years at Durmstrang. And their potion classes were at least a couple of hours long to accommodate for lecturing and the potion making. It looked to be at the right consistency as well. He looked up as Leevi walked up with his own potion and smiled at the label. _A color changing potion? _He almost smiled at the boy and wondered if he would be indoctrinated into the ranks of miscreants at the academy. He nodded, asked them to clean up their work stations and vanish the rest of their potions.

"Now, the final part of this practical exam is dueling. At Durmstrang, we do not balk at what the British Ministry of Magic denotes as 'dark arts'. It is our belief that all magic can be used for all purposes depending on the wielder's intent. Therefore instead of the Hogwarts 'Defense against the Dark Arts', we teach dueling—the use of spells for offensive or defensive use. A detailed understanding of the consequences of each spell and its strengths and weaknesses is imperative for winning against an opponent. You will duel each other under my supervision. Take your places."

ooOOoo

Jonathan Pearce was impressed. A little rough around the edges at some points but overall, the twins seemed to have been groomed for advanced education. He penned a note suggesting a special examination of each twin individually upon entrance for qualification into the advanced group. He was surprised that no one came to pick up the children however, and watched them walk off into Diagon Alley. Well, it was mid-afternoon and nowhere close to Knockturn Alley so he watched them turn the corner before reaching into a cabinet to pull out a vial. Drawing out his memories of the afternoon with his wand, he placed them carefully in the vial before wrapping it up with the children's potion samples. He hefted the package to a large Durmstrang owl.

"Fly well. Durmstrang. Deputy Headmaster Dmitri Petrovsky."

ooOOoo

"Bloody hell." Leevi said, rolling his shoulders. "You hit me pretty well with that banishing curse."

"You could have dodged it." She said, using her wand to repair the sleeve of her cloak to cover the remains of the boils on her arm. The healing charm had removed most of them but some residue would remain for the next couple of days. "Just like I could have blocked this. Ugh, it's disgusting. Did you _have _to?"

He slapped her heartily on the back and chuckled. "Yeah, I can't gauge you well when I'm trying to not do my best."

"Sure, and what about the extra punch that moves them off the ability to be charmed off? Ugh. Anyway, whatever happened to the first _stupefy_ you cast? You couldn't have meant for it to go _that _wide off target."

"I was trying to slow down my wand movements," he said with a grimace, "and Merlin, was that a bad idea. I stopped trying that afterwards for fear of tearing his head off when aiming something innocuous at you." He activated the stone to call Raxiel and they both relaxed around the side entrance to Gringotts, careful to keep the hoods of their cloaks up.

"Do you think it worked?" she asked him after a few moments of silence.

"We'll know for sure in a few days." And they followed Raxiel into Gringotts.

ooOOoo

Two days later, Albus Dumbledore had flooed and joined Harry's parents and Neville's uncle in the infirmary to watch the administration of the restorative potion for their boys. He watched them move into a Pearceful sleep and waited until Poppy ushered the guardians out before approaching them with a pensieve.

"Neville. Harry. I'm so glad you are finally back with us. But we really need to know what happened that night so many weeks ago. Mr. and Miss Maximus have been less forthcoming than we would like, while Mr. Malfoy has no recollections of the evening. You understand that we need to check for further dangers hidden in the Chamber of Secrets?" he paused before holding out the pensieve. "I need your memories of that night."

ooOOoo

He watched as the children debated what course to take as the sinks spinned to a stop, then followed Neville and Harry down the opening and into the fabled Chamber of Secrets. While the boys hid under the invisibility cloak and kept behind the statues, James walked forward quickly to assess the situation. His mind froze for a second when he saw the giant basilisk slither into the room but his Auror training had him quickly regaining his sense and drawing his wand, even if subconsciously he knew there was nothing he could do in a memory.

Wand drawn, James took in the sight of two children dueling—one against an older student, the other against a sixty foot magical snake, while another lay crumpled on the floor. His head whipped around as the memory abruptly ended and saw the basilisk dodging a spell from Christelle and aim its gaze towards the corner where Harry and Neville were hiding.

James emerged from the pensieve and sat down in a plush chair in front of Albus Dumbledore's desk.

"Merlin."

The old headmaster nodded sagely. "I know it must come as quite a shock James—"

"Merlin Albus, how could a basilisk that large exist in the school? And for how long? How did the children get out of there _alive_?"

Albus narrowed his eyes slightly but nodded thoughtfully. "I believe they were lucky—and the twins are exhibiting certain _talents_ that need attention and guidance."

James pushed his initial reaction of watching Neville's memories into the back of his mind to pay attention to what the headmaster was saying.

"Frankly James, the children worry me. Harry and Neville luckily will come out of this without permanent consequences. But what if the basilisk had gone free? Mr. Longbottom's memories suggest Leevi ordering it about. And the last parselmouth to open the Chamber of Secrets eventually turned into the Dark Lord Voldemort." He paused, letting his words sink into his audience.

"What are you saying?" James asked, narrowing his eyes.

"That even with extra exposure to professors like Minerva and Filius, we have not been able to influence their behavior for the better. Without proper guidance and a lot of watching, I'm afraid the path they are choosing will turn to darkness."

"Albus, I just watched two twelve-year olds duel in Slytherin's secret chamber, using spells that no second year should know and with a grace that one typically gains by experience—are you now telling me that they are turning _dark_?"

"I wish it were not so James, but the similarities between the twins' actions, talents, and personality and those of young Tom Riddle, who you saw dueling Leevi in the Chambers, are not something I can dismiss. They've established a group of followers from students of all four Houses, are keeping their knowledge and dueling expertise hidden, and apparently are two parselmouths who, unlike Mr. Longbottom, do not have a reason other than potentially being related to the Slytherin line. We need to keep a closer eye on the twins, James. For their safety and for those of our children."

James nodded thoughtfully. _They certainly have more power and experience than they are letting on. But why?_

"If you feel uncomfortable having the children under your care, I would understand." Albus said kindly. "After what happened to Harry…"

"No, I—need to think on this. Albus—they're just kids." He whispered. "Just kids."

ooOOoo

That evening, James watched the children closely but found nothing that belied any of what he'd seen in the pensieve. They asked after Harry politely, joined in easily in the conversation during dinner, and held an interesting innocuous conversation about Quidditch and charms placed on the balls for their different behaviour on the field. It was difficult to reconcile with what he'd seen that afternoon. But he had seen it.

So the next day, when Leevi and Christelle asked to talk to Lily and himself, he followed his wife into the study with a sense of foreboding.

ooOOoo


	15. On to Durmstrang

**Disclaimer: HP isn't mine. We all know who to thank…**

**A/N: Dumbledore showed James Neville's memories, not Harry's as they're similar and he simply side-stepped potential nastiness with the head of the Potter family. Also, Karkaroff is still headmaster of Durmstrang—Petrovsky is the Deputy Headmaster.**

**Thank you for your kind reviews of the last chapter! I hope you enjoy this one as well.**

**ooOOoo**

"Uncle James, Aunt Lilly," Christelle started, "we wanted to talk to you about Hogwarts."

"What about Hogwarts?" Lilly asked, setting herself down gracefully into a nice armchair. James sat down next to her while the twins took seats on a couch across from them.

"We aren't very happy with it as an educational institution." Christelle stated.

Leevi continued, "It's not a secure place for students—just first year, there was a manticore, a werewolf, and a professor possessed by a dark spirit. And this year we find that there was a large basilisk living under the school the entire time."

"Which you decided was your responsibility to take care of." James interrupted, giving them a pointed glance.

"What do we need to do to convince you that we were trying to help?" Leevi asked, crossing his arms.

"I'm convinced that you were trying to help," James corrected, "but I would like to know _why_ you couldn't trust a professor to at least accompany you and _how_ you actually pulled it off."

"You've been talking to Dumbledore." Christelle stated, her eyes narrowing for a brief moment.

James nodded. "In fact, he showed me Neville's memories of that night. When were you going to tell us you were parselmouths?"

Lily gasped. "Parselmouths?"

Leevi shrugged and Christelle raised her eyebrows and replied. "That's another thing we're unhappy about at Hogwarts. The general attitude is to downplay the differences between some groups and enhance a preconceived notion of 'light' and 'dark', making them synonymous with 'good' and 'evil'. Preposterous, really."

Leevi nodded, continuing for her. "Between separating all incoming students into different Houses and fostering inter-House rivalries, is it really a wonder that students conform to peculiarities of their Houses? Students feel safer hiding opinions or abilities that deviate from the stereotype, worried—and with due cause—that they would otherwise be shunned, misinterpreted, and targeted."

James and Lily were a bit taken aback by their formal tone, but shrugged it off for the moment as Leevi continued.

"One would expect an educational institution as renowned as Hogwarts would deign it important to develop each student's abilities and talents, teaching them how to use or how not to use them rather than sweeping everything under a rug."

James furrowed his brows. Lily patted his arm saying softly, "Muggle term for ignoring something, dear." He nodded before asking the question he'd been wanting to ask since watching the memory in the pensieve.

"What talents or abilities are you hiding then?"

"Well, you know about my animagus transformation, and that we're parselmouths." Christelle started.

Leevi nodded, noting that Lily's raised eyebrow. "Both of us figured it out after some advanced transfiguration lessons with Professor McGonagall."

"You have a form as well?" James whispered, running a hand through his hair and sitting back into his chair. "All right… animagi and parselmouths." He shook his head, bewildered. "Why hide it?"

"We don't want to get registered as animagi."

James thought he could understand that.

"And after the reaction the school had about Neville speaking parseltongue… how Dumbledore had to give a plausible reason why he could still be considered a 'light wizard'—did you think we would be very forthcoming about having the same ability?" Leevi added. "If the need to justify how having the ability to speak to snakes doesn't make the Boy Who Lived 'dark and evil', I don't know what is a sign of the stigma against dark magic. Well, that and Dumbledore sacking Uncle Remus when people found out he was a werewolf. What more proof would one need?"

"You need to understand that the stereotype of parselmouths being evil is founded on observations of past parselmouths—it's a trend that has been observed for hundreds of years." James said.

"And werewolves are accepted by the general community today as being dark and evil creatures that have no rights and should be locked up permanently." Leevi countered. His face softened as he asked, "You made an exception when you found out Uncle Remus was a werewolf, why not with us? At least give us a chance before you jump into conclusions as Dumbledore already has."

James eyes narrowed. "Moony only turns _once a month_ and always under controlled conditions—"

"While we have been parselmouths this entire time, each of us have an Asian Gold as familiars, and we have never attacked anyone." Christelle interrupted. "I believe that level of control should suggest something, don't you?"

"What about the basilisk?"

"We killed it. What more do you want?" Christelle asked, exasperated.

"Neville said that you were directing it." James held up a hand placatingly as Leevi drew in a deep breath. "I only heard hissing in the memory. I'm asking for your version of the story."

Leevi let out a sigh and nodded. "I don't know how much Neville heard, but I guess there were times that it could be open to such an interpretation. We'd figured out that the monster in the Chamber of Secrets was probably a basilisk when we heard it hissing through the walls. It was seeking muggleborn students, bent on making them dinner. After luring it back into the Chambers and _away_ from the general student population,.. well, you saw it in the pensieve, I suppose."

"I only saw as far as the petrification but it allowed me to see how advanced the two of you are. How did you duel a teenage version of You-Know-Who _and_ a basilisk, and win both fights?"

"We are pretty advanced in spell casting and we had the help of a nice rooster. The crow of a rooster is fatal to a basilisk, you know." Christelle supplied with a shrug, glancing at Leevi. She could tell they were listening, but the points they'd raised weren't going to be convincing enough for the goal of the conversation. Leevi nodded and took up the lead.

"Why? The scene felt wrong from the beginning—twelve year olds should not have that kind of training. If I didn't know better, I'd even say that you had auror training."

"We also know Occlumency." James sat up in his chair, surprised.

"Did you know that the Headmaster and Snape routinely legillimize students?" Christelle asked.

"Professor—" Lily started to correct out of habit, "Wait—what?!"

"No, Albus wouldn't—"

"They've been trying to read us for a while now." Leevi interrupted, shrugging. "So in addition to an appalling lack of security and biases that curtail educational growth, there is also a blatant disrespect of student privacy."

James closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, trying to absorb everything. Lily seemed ready to launch out of her chair to interrogate the headmaster. They were both brought back into the room at the sound of rustling parchment. Leevi spread the documents on the small table between them. "We would appreciate it if you did not bring this to the headmaster's attention, but we wanted you to know what we are considering."

James and Lily simultaneously reached out for the parchment. She ended up snatching it out of his hands and quickly flipping through them as he stared at the letterhead of the first document he had picked up. _Durmstrang_.

"Its curriculum is more advanced in areas we have already reached a certain level of expertise on." Leevi answered. "Their classes are small, emphasizing individual attention that will cultivate each student's skills. And they aren't bent on the opinion that dark magic is synonymous to evil."

"Surely you know that You-Know-Who recruits at Durmstrang?" James protested.

"Do we need to remind you that Tom Riddle is a Hogwarts graduate? And that he recruits from all four Houses, even if he is most successful among those of the Slytherin House?" Christelle countered with a raised eyebrow. James clenched his jaw, remembering how they had found out that Peter was the Death Eater spy in their ranks. "The school one attends does not have a direct bearing on what kind of person they turn out to be."

"I agree with that," Lily nodded, "but Durmstrang does have a certain reputation of instilling its students with a political agenda—why do you believe it would suit you better than Hogwarts?" she asked.

"You are assuming that there is no political agenda at Hogwarts." Leevi said softly. "If you would but think on who the headmaster is, what his past looks like, and his present ambitions, you would realize that he has a political agenda as well. Dumbledore simply spreads it using his presence and reputation, allowing the political unrest and his abilities speak for themselves."

"Durmstrang trains _dark wizards_."

"And witches." Christelle added helpfully.

Leevi sent her a half-amused glance before turning to James. "Durmstrang trains their students in all types of magic—they simply do not exclude the dark arts. Besides," he paused at Christelle's warning glance and changed what he was going to say. "Hogwarts trains dark and light wizards to hate each other, which is worse."

James and Lily stared at him, aghast.

"What did you think the rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin embodied?" he asked, shaking his head. "Dark is not synonymous with evil." He repeated. "As for being politically active, the school does offer courses on philosophy and politics, but no ideology is enforced upon the students. Christelle and I are pretty comfortable with that."

ooOOoo

"You knew they were parselmouths and didn't tell me." Lily glared at her husband after the twins had exited the study.

James shrugged. "I just found out yesterday and have been trying to assimilate it all..."

"You don't believe that it means they're dark do you? Because we've been through this already--the issue of judging an individual's character by their abilities."

James nodded. "I know and I realize it's a deeply rooted, yet backwards way of wizarding thinking. But after seeing what they did in that Chamber, add to that their mysterious 'dark' ability, being advanced to be _animagi_, and now wanting to transfer to Durmstrang of all places... I don't know what to think."

"I'm inviting Remus to tea tomorrow. The twins didn't say how he found out, did they? I want to know why he didn't say anything. And I want to meet with the headmaster of Durmstrang." Lily said, as she sipped her tea.

"You are supporting their transfer to Durmstrang?" James asked, surprised.

"They don't feel safe at Hogwarts, James. That much is clear, and however much I wish it weren't the case because I loved Hogwarts… their reasons are valid. I don't know if they would apply to any of the other students, but trouble seems to find them at Hogwarts and Albus does seem to have crossed the line a fair number of times with the twins." She paused at this and shook her head. "And they're emancipated. We couldn't stop them even if we wanted to. Didn't you notice that the conversation was more of a declaration of their plans than asking for support or permission from us?" She leafed through the pieces of parchment the twins had left them to peruse.

James took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "What if they went to Beauxbatons? Or Salem? It'd be far to travel but anything is better than Durmstrang. Their ideas of good and evil are theoretically noble but we've seen what the Dark Arts can do… what they can do to someone. I'm aware that some of the lines separating 'light' and 'dark' are inaccurate and more of a reflection of personal opinions, but there are some things that are not open to question. Light fights against Dark and deep consequences come from that, as we've seen with the past war. The twins are too ideological—they don't understand what's behind the fight. On one level I'm glad that they are able to have that ideology as children, but on the other hand..."

"You know that muggles see the fight between 'good and evil' or 'light and dark' as pure fairy tale and fantasy, right? They have a view of morality that is followed and reflected in the laws that are made, but other than that, there is no final battle between two opposing forces of nature." she said with a smile.

"Well, it's the way of the wizarding world." James retorted good-naturedly. "Besides, they don't believe in magic either and look at all of what they're missing!"

Lily laughed quietly at his antics and continued looking through the documents.

"It seems they're pretty set on going," she said softly as she passed him a piece of parchment. James tiredly put his glasses back on and reached for it. He scanned it quickly and looked up in surprise. "They've already taken written and practical entrance exams, passed them with flying colors, and received an invitation to attend… when did they do it all?" she mused, shaking her head. "It must have been while they've been here--right under our noses and somehow we didn't suspect a thing."

"Durmstrang isn't going to help them with Dumbledore—if anything, it'll cement his suspicions that the twins are turning dark."

"Do you think they are? Dark, I mean." She asked, looking more closely at some of the pieces of parchment.

"No… at least, not yet. But I'd never send my kids to Durmstrang."

"Which brings me back to the topic of emancipation. How would you propose we would stop them if we were to take that route? At least they might listen to us if we try to curb influences they may pick up." She paused, "Then there's their assessment of Hogwarts. If they're right… should we be sending Harry there? And Jasmine next year?"

James ran both hands through his hair and groaned.

ooOOoo

That evening, Lily looked in on the children a few hours after she'd tucked them into bed. Standing beside Leevi, she patted his hair and gently laid a kiss on his brow. Tugging the blanket carefully around him, she looked at him fondly and whispered, "What has made you two grow up so fast? And why won't you trust us to take care of you?" the last was whispered with a sad tone as she walked out the bedroom. If she'd looked back, she would have noticed his eyes opening and bright green eyes watching the door close softly.

ooOOoo

Remus Lupin sought out the Maximus twins after talking to the Potters for a couple of hours over tea. He found them laying in the yard, watching the clouds drift by and sat down to join them.

"I hear you two did a good job breaking the news to James and Lily."

Leevi smiled, turning to look at his favorite Defense professor. "Yeah, they seemed to take it rather well, all things considering. You didn't put them off the idea, did you?"

Remus shook his head, thinking back on how he'd prodded Jon for details about Durmstrang the past few days. "One of my colleagues is a Durmstrang graduate so I got some scoop from him."

"Jonathan Pearce?" Christelle asked with a sharp glance. Remus smiled and shrugged.

"Maybe."

She laid back down and smiled. She knew that name had sounded familiar—she must have read it in one of the employee recruitment reports for Griffin Inceptum.

"Is there a particular reason why you are choosing Durmstrang over—say, Beauxbatons or Salem?" Remus asked, watching a cloud float by with a passing similarity to a flying Quidditch player.

"Everywhere else holds the 'dark is evil' stigma we're trying to get away from. You can understand that, right Uncle Moony?" Leevi asked. Remus nodded.

"Here, I want you two to have these." He handed them each a small package. The twins sat up to take them and opened them carefully to find two round mirrors inside. They glanced at each other and then looked at Remus with smiles pulling at their lips. "I have a third one connected to both of them. Just in case you need someone to talk to while at Durmstrang, you know, to bounce ideas with or whatever."

"Or so you can keep an eye on us and make sure there is no brainwashing going on?" Leevi asked, allowing the small smile to grow into a grin. "Thanks, Uncle Moony. We really appreciate it."

Christelle nodded, pocketing the mirror thoughtfully. "Thanks, Uncle Remus."

ooOOoo

Dumbledore watched the floo flare green and stepped back to allow the Potters through. He had asked them to bring the Maximus twins with them on their next scheduled visit to see Harry—as this was on a weekend, they were bringing the two youngest Potters as well. He asked the twins to stay behind to discuss their ongoing suspension from Hogwarts and tried to usher the Potters out of his office. James and Lily shared a glance and James refused to move towards the door.

"Why don't I stay for the meeting? I'll meet you and the kids at the school infirmary in a bit." He said, nodding at his wife and kids. Lily gave him a small nod and followed Dorian and Jasmine out.

Dumbledore forced down a sigh and conjured another chair for James before settling himself in his seat behind his desk and distributing tea and biscuits for his guests.

"Now, I wanted to ask you here to discuss the conditions upon which you may return to Hogwarts after the winter holidays." Albus started with a smile. "After all, now that both victims in the attack have fully recuperated, we can start putting this behind us. On the other hand, due to what we have learned of the incident—and we _will _be learning a lot more since, especially seeing as Mr. Longbottom has agreed to open the Chambers to us for further security of the castle—"

"Professor Dumbledore, " Leevi interrupted, "that all sounds great except for one thing."

"And what is that, my dear boy?" Albus asked, as he took a piece of parchment from Leevi.

"Christelle and I are withdrawing from Hogwarts."

Silence.

"Excuse me?"

"Christelle and I are withdrawing from Hogwarts." Leevi repeated and paused as Albus glanced down at the parchment in his hands. "We're planning on attending Durmstrang."

"James—" Albus turned to the other adult in the room.

"I'm sorry Albus, it seems that their minds are all made up and they have everything set to go. Lily and I gave them a good talk through on what to be careful about."

Dumbledore thought furiously. The children were emancipated so once they withdrew from Hogwarts—which had happened as soon as he'd touched those papers apparently—he had no power over them. No one did, as they did not answer to a job supervisor, a home guardian, or a school. The only thing that came to his mind was physically forcing them to stay and somehow he didn't think the idea would sit well with Lily or James Potter.

"I would beg you to reconsider. Hogwarts has the most balanced curriculum of all the magical schools in Europe… something that is very important in these dangerous times. I fear that the problems that have arisen here due to your conduct are not going to disappear simply because you switch schools. Running from your problems are not the solution, my children."

"We understand that, headmaster." Christelle replied.

Albus waited for a few moments, but it appeared that those seated in front of him were not going to give him more of an explanation than that. He looked over to James, but his former pupil simply gave a small shake of his head.

"Well, I must say it is disappointing to see that you will not try to make the best of the situation here at Hogwarts. However, it would be in your best interests to finish the year here and transfer to Durmstrang in the fall if you so choose to then—it would make the transition easier for both schools. Presumably, it would also be easier for integrating you into the new curriculum and with your future classmates. Durmstrang has several requirements that must be met before they accept students—"

"We've taken the entrance exams—both written and practical. They're willing to take us in as transfer students in the middle of the year. It's all been worked out, actually."

"What of your school records here?"

"You'll probably receive a request for those soon enough." Christelle said with a shrug. "I think our scores were good enough that they were willing to accept us on those alone and the records for the past year and a half are a mere formality. After all, the schools are run in very different ways."

Albus sat back and stroked his beard. The idea that the twins wanted to transfer out of Hogwarts was unexpected, but that they had already done what was necessary to get an invitation to attend Durmstrang—they must have been planning this for a while. Perhaps the suspension was not the best idea he had had. "Out of curiosity, why Durmstrang?" he asked, finally.

Christelle and Leevi shrugged. "It seems to cater to some of our specific needs."

"Oh, and Albus?"

He turned his attention to James.

"As the twins are no longer students at Hogwarts, I would truly appreciate it if you would remove the tracking spells on the children."

Albus was slightly taken aback at the request. He'd hoped that they had forgotten about the spells so he could monitor them whenever they weren't in the school—and now he had hoped to monitor them as they moved to Durmstrang. After all, no one outside of current and past students knew of its location, and for some reason, none could be persuaded to part with the information. He sighed and nodded, reaching for his wand to perform the spell.

Leevi felt a light brush of magic, then turned to James. "Can we go visit Harry now?"

Dumbledore leaned back in his chair and nodded, so James stood up and lead them down the stairs and to the Infirmary. James had been watching the conversation closely and had noticed Leevi and Christelle's hands tighten around their own wands when the headmaster had reached for his—even if they had previous warning that Albus was only going to remove the tracking charms. The small reaction was an example of how wary they were at Hogwarts and he couldn't help but think that their move to a different school might have been the best choice for them—even if he was still dubious of Durmstrang itself.

Alone in his office, the elderly wizard shoved the withdrawal notification angrily into a drawer in his desk, knowing that the magic would archive it in the Maximus twins files, then popped a lemon drop into his mouth and tapped his fingers on his desk. Where did children get the idea of changing schools? They should defer to their elders—and as the Potters had both been educated at Hogwarts and were part of the Order, they should have ultimately deferred to _him_, but these children seemed to sidestep his plans at every turn. Durmstrang. It was out of his jurisdiction, but he needed to find a way to keep an eye on them. He didn't have any direct contacts in Durmstrang at the moment but who could he infiltrate?

ooOOoo

Leevi and Christelle waited for Lily to stop checking over the list of things they were supposed to take with them to school. They were both dressed, thick red cloaks draped over their arms, with their trunks at their feet. Hedwig was sleeping in her cage while Melton and Damon were wrapped around each of their owners' arms.

"Aunt Lily, I think we're ready." Christelle said with a smile.

"Oh, all right." Lily called Jasmine and Dorian down to say good bye. Harry was already sitting in the living room, sulking.

"Come on, Harry. We'll ask Dumbledore to see if we can visit Hogwarts on some weekends and write a lot." Leevi cajoled. The twins had been relieved when Harry had sided with them about the incident in the Chamber of Secrets, as the first thing he'd done when they had walked into the infirmary was thank them for getting him and Neville out of there. Over the holidays, the Potter family had become more aware and less afraid, of their parselmouth ability. Jasmine and Lily were still a bit leery of the reptiles, but Harry had taken to asking Leevi and Christelle to translate questions to ask Melton and Damon. The Asian Gold snakes had found it amusing at first, but had quickly gotten bored. Harry's reaction to their increasingly sarcastic comments was to point out how at least, they were more witty than the Slytherins at school. He had not understood why the twins wanted to transfer out of Hogwarts however, and didn't look forward to going back to school without them.

"Why do you have to go there again?"

Leevi sighed and shook his head. He gave Christelle a half smile as Dorian and Jasmine came down the stairs to say good bye.

"You know that I'm going to be asking about how you lead the Phantoms from now on." Leevi said. "You're going to have to come up with all the brilliant ideas and ways to make them work. You'll definitely have your work cut out for you!"

_Phantoms?_ Lily mouthed to James over their heads. He just shrugged at her innocently and shrunk the trunks, handing them to the twins to place in their pockets.

"And now Gryffindor is going to be missing a Seeker." Christelle added.

"Yeah! You should try out! I'm sure you'll get the position." Harry smiled and moved over to the group.

"And we'll have a match whenever you come visit?"

"You bet." The boys grinned.

"All right you two." Lily said, ushering the twins to the side. "Here is the portkey Deputy Headmaster Petrovsky sent you. Hold on tight, it'll activate in a few minutes. You both have your Christmas gifts?"

The twins nodded and Christelle fingered the necklace she was wearing. Among other gifts, the Potters had given all the children portkeys to take them to St. Mungo's that could be voice activated in case of emergencies. Lily nodded. They didn't know if portkeys would work through Durmstrang's wards, but at least it was something.

"And you each have the two-way mirrors Remus gave you?" James asked.

Leevi nodded.

"All right," Lily said, giving them each a hug. "Have a good semester, take care of each other, floo us, owl us, or give Remus a call if you need to talk about anything—"

"Honey, you're going to end up traveling with them if you aren't careful…" James said with a smile as he drew his wife back from the twins.

"Don't hesitate to tell us if there's anything you need, all right? And if you find time to visit Harry at Hogwarts, make sure to drop by here as well."

"We will, Uncle James. Thanks." Christelle nodded at the clock at the mantelpiece and Leevi put a hand on Hedwig's cage as they both gripped the portkey. They smiled good bye to the Potters and spun out of sight.

ooOOoo

**A/N: I realize this chapter was kind of slow… but it needed to happen. It'll be picking up again, I promise! They're off to Durmstrang!**


	16. On to Hogwarts

Vignettes

**Disclaimer: JKR owns HP. This author is not JKR. Thus, I do not own HP.**

**AN: I'd started writing this as an account of the twins' transfer to Durmstrang, but ended up re-writing it with their return to Hogwarts for the tri-Wizard tournament. Just seemed to flow better—anyhoo… Happy Memorial Day!**

**ooOOoo**

Harry stood at the front steps of Hogwarts surrounded by curious students, the Headmaster, and Professor McGonagall. He squinted his eyes and wondered if those dots in the distance were birds or the carriages that Jasmine had told him the Beauxbatons students would be arriving in. Hermione nudged him and pointed at the dots growing larger, probably not birds then—there were three of them, and again he felt exhilaration at getting to show his sister around Hogwarts. He had been disappointed when she'd chosen to go to Beauxbatons and at first had blamed the twins for her decision, but he couldn't help but be happy for her when he got her excited letters about the lovely golden-cast castle in France. She had loved her first year and had made some good friends that would hopefully have gotten permission to come too. He still held out hope that Dorian would join him at Hogwarts next year, however.

Hogwarts itself hadn't changed much after the twins left, although he had been surprised to hear that Draco Malfoy had also opted to transfer to Durmstrang. After the whole Chamber of Secrets debacle, he had had heated conversations with Neville and Ron trying to get them to see that Leevi and Christelle weren't dark and evil. With Hermione's help they had been able to plant a seed of doubt in Neville, but the Boy-Who-Lived refused to talk to the twins himself—something about limiting his contact with even potential dark wizards or witches while he underwent training with Dumbledore and his uncle. He sighed as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Ron seemed rooted to his belief that only those performing the dark arts went to Durmstrang and the twins transfer sealed the deal for him. Ginny had opted to follow whatever Neville and her brother said.

He had to admit that the first time he'd seen Leevi and Christelle after their transfer to Durmstrang, he had been taken aback at the changes he perceived. They _did_ seem darker in a way. The twins had taken to wearing darker colors and their actions seemed more formal even around family. They took their training to a higher level too—training every morning before even his mum was up in addition to the summer martial arts courses they had all continued to go to, flying every day (not that he was complaining about that). He had also been surprised when they engaged his parents with conversation topics on muggle and wizard interactions, the state of wizarding law, and current state of affairs. His worries flew out the window the third day they had gotten back for summer break though, when Leevi and Christelle successfully pranked the entire household. His father had formulated a plan of retaliation with Jasmine, Dorian, and himself—with his mum laughing in the background. After that, he realized that they hadn't changed _that _much. And Leevi had helped him train that summer for Quidditch try-outs for the next year. He had joined the Gryffindor team as seeker his third year and was now in his fourth.

Unfortunately, there was always some friction during team practice when Ron, the reserve Keeper, got on the field.

At least he had Hermione to talk to.

Hermione had insisted on re-establishing the study group Christelle had started, contacting the students in the other houses of their year to set up a meeting time in the library. He had to admit that their input made for more interesting conversations as they drew from their various backgrounds—the Slytherins still seemed aloof whenever Hermione cited some Muggle law or custom but shared their views and opinions as heirs of old pureblood lines, and he put in his two sickles on the more open, yet still magically entrenched views his parents had raised him in. His bushy-haired friend had calmed down somewhat about class work after second year, but that could be attributed to the broadening of her interests and goals, if her summer reading list was any indication. Oh, how he rued the day he'd encouraged her to write to Christelle with her questions rather than ask through him. They had unleashed a demon!

"Oh, look Harry!" Hermione squealed. "You can see the carriages clearly now—aren't they beautiful?"

Harry flinched at her high-pitched, excited tone and nudged Blaise in the ribs. "How is it that their voices get so shrill?"

The Slytherin smirked in reply, although he moved a bit to the side when Millicent and some of the Hufflepuff girls squealed in excitement.

The crowd of students moved apart as the winged horses circled the grounds and descended upon Hogwarts grounds. Everyone quieted down in anticipation as the majestic beasts pawed the ground and huffed white clouds of moisture. The first carriage door opened and a young man stepped down, wearing a navy blue uniform. He immediately held out a hand to help the Headmistress of Beauxbatons climb out of the carriage. Madame Maxime towered over the rest of the students as the doors of the other carriages opened and several boys in navy blue uniforms climbed out gracefully to hold the door open for the female students who descended gracefully wearing light blue uniforms.

"Ah, my dear Madame Maxime!"

"Dumbledore." Madame Maxime's rumbling yet feminine voice called out. "Thank you for greeting us." She strode forward and the assembled Hogwarts students parted to let her through the front doors.

"Welcome to Hogwarts, my dear. I'm sure you would like to warm up inside the castle."

"Karkaroff has not arrived yet?" she asked.

"No, although we expect them momentarily." She nodded in reply.

"We would be grateful if you would show us where we will stay for the duration of the tournament."

"Of course, of course."

Harry missed the rest of the conversation as he stepped forward to intercept a familiar figure.

"Harry!" Jasmine dropped the decorum and ran forwards to launch herself at her older brother.

"Ooof, you're getting a little big there!" he laughed as he twirled her around before setting her on the ground and wrapping an extra cloak around her. "I knew you wouldn't bring an extra cloak."

"It's not fashionable." She retorted, hiding a grin. She ducked her head at the looks the older Beauxbatons students were giving her though, and shuffled her feet. "_He's my brother and I haven't seen him in a while." _She explained in French. The rest of the students smiled obligingly, although an elder student held out her hand and called her forwards.

She looked at Harry and shrugged. "I have to go with them now but I'll be back—hopefully before Leevi and Christelle get here!"

Nodding at his hyperactive sister, he turned back to look around the grounds with the other students, wondering how the Durmstrang group would arrive.

ooOOoo

Leevi and Christelle walked back to their quarters after practice.

"Go get cleaned up. And be quick about it, we arrive at Hogwarts in half an hour!" Aaden called as he walked by them.

The twins hurried as they had to clean up, rub some salve on the worst of their bruises and get dressed and be ready for presentation. Leevi wondered what Dumbledore would think when he saw them. The Hogwarts headmaster hadn't allowed them to visit Harry and their friends at Hogwarts after they had transferred to Durmstrang, citing parental concerns on exposing their children to students known to study the Dark Arts as an excuse. It hadn't stopped them from visiting Hogsmeade though and Harry from sneaked out of Hogwarts to meet them. The citizens of the wizarding town had been surprised the year after when they found not just Hogwarts students on the designated weekends, but a small entourage of Durmstrang students arriving via portkey. At least most shop owners treated all students as welcome customers, even if there were a few that shied away from the teenagers wearing blood-red robes, muttering about dark wizards in training.

He wondered if the old headmaster had sent Snape to try to keep tabs on them in Durmstrang under the guise of consulting Madame Brauer, Durmstrang's Potions Mistress, on some new concoction or another, or if it was on some other kind of reconnaissance. They _had_ run into the snarky professor numerous times during his visits—enough to make him wary, even if Draco attributed it to Snape checking up on him as his godson. He shook his head to clear his thoughts as he stepped into the shower.

The year and a half at the Durmstrang Institute had been more productive than he'd accounted for. Durmstrang's lax rules on weekend trips allowed them to make occasional trips to the places where Voldemort's horcruxes had been found last time but unfortunately they found none. They had gathered that Voldemort may have hidden them in different places as he had left the diary in case of someone other than Lucius Malfoy. Imagine their surprise when they had found Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem in a muggle museum. Durmstrang's 3rd year History had taken on a section on political discourse, leading to a number of them making a supervised visit to muggle Amsterdam to observe a political debate.

_Flashback_

They walked out of the town hall as an orderly group, following Professor Molotov to the small magical corner of Amsterdam where they sat at a small café to discuss the tactics employed by muggle politicians to handle important questions and an overlook on the roles these played in the interactions between magical and muggle governments.

"Wizards have to seem small enough to not be a threat in their eyes but large enough so that they do not plan on overtaking the magical community for their own. It is a difficult balance that must be played each time both sides find a new political leader as it can be a problem in both ways."

"Why not put them under a compulsion charm or the _Imperius_?"

"How long do you think that compulsion charm would last? Would you bind the life of a wizard to take over the leading of a muggle government by having him control the life of the _Imperius_?" the young professor paused here and shook his head. "The past has shown that muggles and magic do not mix well. Too much interaction causes dissent amongst them and a heady sense of superiority in us—but they outnumber us in enough ways that they can cause us a lot of harm if they act together. And what did you learn about technology last year?"

The student nodded. "Their weaponry, if amassed together, would pose a veritable threat even against heavily warded areas—provided they know where to aim." He added at the end.

"We should just infiltrate their army and take them down from the inside." Another student mumbled, and the twins combed the group with their eyes, trying to catalogue the possible identity of the student. Professor Molotov did not comment on it and merely launched the discussion in another direction.

Afterwards, the students were allowed to disperse for the afternoon and the twins headed back to muggle Amsterdam. They spoke quietly, wandering around an old museum when they spotted it.

"You have _got_ to be joking." Leevi breathed, staring at the small gold circlet sitting innocently on a mannequin's head. While the diadem clashed horribly with the mannequin's medieval garb, he could see why muggles may have made the mistake of thinking they came from a similar age.

"Is that—" Christelle didn't finish her sentence. Leevi nodded, fingering the wand under his sleeve.

"Let's go." She tugged him away, whispering the entire while. "We'll come back next weekend to scope the place out."

And they did. They returned to muggle Amsterdam the next weekend and two weekends after that, bringing with them a transfigured replica of the diadem and a heavily warded chest they had sent to Gringotts and asked Raxiel to add wards to supplement their own. Learning when the display was to be taken down to be refurbished took some polyjuice and acting… in addition to staging a temporary electrical blackout during which they stunned one of the maintenance crew and made replicas of his electronic ID device so they could get past the muggle security system, but they managed to switch the Hogwarts heirloom for its replica, placing the dangerous horcrux in the guarded chest for safekeeping. Last time it had been destroyed by fyendfire, but they had to find a safe place to cast it before attempting it now. Neither had a powerful magical artifact such as the Gryffindor sword to aid them this time, so they kept it carefully stowed away in one of the unplottable houses they had purchased back in England. Raxiel pulled some strings to have someone put it under Fidelius. The diadem stayed there for another two months until they decided that the cave where Voldemort had hidden the locket (which was empty of _inferi_, potion, and locket) had enough ambient magic and was isolated enough to be safe for raising the wards and casting the fyendfire. Christelle designed the runic circle and held the wards up as Leevi cast the spell. The muggles never suspected a thing.

They had gone back to Durmstrang feeling tired and relieved—absurdly glad for Durmstrang's weekend policy that contrasted so much with its training regimen during the week.

_End of Flashback_

Leevi stepped onto the deck, giving Draco Malfoy a nod in greeting as he passed the young blond. He chuckled as he remembered how they had come to a truce the second day after their arrival at Durmstrang. Aaden Myandar, a 5th year back then and now a 7th year, had been instructed to bring them up to speed on the school's heavy emphasis on physical training.

_Flashback_

Aaden motioned for Malfoy to join him on the platform. "No wands. Come on."

Draco gave him a confused look but slipped his wand back into its holster and turned towards the older student. Aaden shot out a roundhouse kick that hit the blonde straight in the solar plexus. Draco staggered and tried to dodge the next kick, but failed. Aaden shook his head and pulled him to his feet. "Go sit down. Are you two any better?" he asked the twins. Leevi wordlessly got up on the stage.

He lasted a bit longer, but could tell that he was out of his league. No more than ten minutes later, he was on his back. "Christelle."

Her sparring match with Aaden was surprisingly short. He yanked her off balance by her hair, using his other arm to hold her still and his knee to push her down onto the floor. He yanked her hair once. "This is a liability. I want it gone by the next time I see you." He let her go and looked up to see Draco keeping Leevi back with a warning grasp on his arm.

That evening, Leevi had been reading in the common room when Christelle put down her book and walked up to Malfoy's door. He followed out of curiosity.

"Malfoy."

"Maximus."

"You know, that's going to get pretty confusing. Why don't you call me Christelle?"

"And I suppose you want permission to call me by my first name? Keep dreaming."

She shrugged. "There's only one Malfoy here." She paused. "Can I use some of your hair gel?"

Leevi looked up surprised. Draco had a similar look on his face. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

Draco paused. He'd never done any hand-to-hand fighting before today—a wizard uses his wand—and he had been shown how utterly useless he was without his. And from that little demonstration he knew that any fights or altercations that might occur in this school would not stop at disarming an opponent—he was way out of his league in that department. He had to start somewhere. He lifted his wand and summoned the gel into his hand and tossed it to Christelle.

"Keep it."

She gave him a small smile. "Thanks." She ducked out of his room and closed the door softly behind her. Fifteen minutes later she was back.

"Dinner's in twenty minutes Malfoy. Want to walk down with us?"

He looked up from his reading and almost dropped his book. Christelle Maximus stood in front of him, long black hair gone, replaced by a short pixie cut, stylized with a light touch of gel to give her a playful look. Leevi put his book down as they walked down the stairs and glanced at Christelle and Draco.

"Bloody hell, Christelle. I might have to ask you for some of that—it might be the only thing that has a remote chance of making my hair look decent. Up for some grub, Malfoy?"

The next day, Christelle knocked on Draco's door and invited him to join them for a short revision of martial arts basics.

_End Flashback_

_And two weeks later, _he thought as he joined Christelle at the helm watching the spray of water and nymphs (water elementals) play, _we brought a new wave of pranking wars onto the cold halls of the Durmstrang fortress._

ooOOoo

Chirstelle watched the nymphs swim playfully around the ship, noting that Leevi was following their movements as well. It had been a happy surprise that awaited them at the entrance of the tunnels when their accompanying sylphs moved forward to greet the earth pygmies. The three transfer students from Hogwarts had arrived a week before classes started for extra placement tests and to undergo an orientation and acclimation process that proved to be extremely physically draining—and as they found when they joined in the lessons, absolutely necessary. The deputy headmaster had led them around the tunnels, telling them that they were the only authorized way for reaching the castle as they were intertwined with the cliffs surrounding it and the air above it was heavily warded. Petrovsky had warned against exploring the tunnels on their own as the magic in them changed the directions they had to take to reach the castle—apparetly only students or staff that had lived at Durmstrang for years would be able to manage it without getting lost and not all of them managed it. What he didn't say or appear to realize however was that the shifting tunnels were the work of entertained earth pygmies who were waving at the new students while ducking in and out of the stone.

Needless to say, she dragged Leevi down to the tunnels at the first available moment to introduce themselves. They never got lost on their way in or out of Durmstrang after that, making their weekend trips off the grounds that much easier as they only needed to notify the deputy headmaster of their intended trip and did not need to find a willing escort. From what she could gather, those that learned to manage the tunnels were subconsciously reading directions and hints from the pygmies that led them to their desired destination—although she had been hard pressed not to grin when she noticed some of them leading the more obstinate students in circles before prodding them towards the Durmstrang entrance.

And now they were treated to a brief greeting from water nymphs as they sailed towards Hogwarts. They had been trailing the ship for the last three hours, if she included the two-hour training session Professor Metzger had called them into. The Dueling professor had decided to accompany them on their trip to Hogwarts, at least until the Durmstrang champion was chosen. It had been decided that the visiting students would attend classes with the Hogwarts students, but to follow Durmstrang's strict training regimen, the deputy headmaster had arranged for Metzger to make some trips to instruct them at certain intervals. Daily training was to fall under the instruction of two of the three seventh year students accompanying the group, Victor Krum, Aaden Myandar and Lena Diefendorf. And no one doubted how hard any of them could push the rest of students, especially the fourth year students that had received permission to attend the tournament despite the required testing at the end of the year. While Hogwarts students had OWLS in their fifth year, NEWTS in their seventh year, and the students of Beauxbatons took their exams in their sixth year, Durmstrang students part of their exams in fourth year, allowing for specialization of areas of study to start in fifth year. By 7th year, students were expected to construct thesis work and have developed connections with their intended area of study or work to propel them into wizarding society—most going for some sort of Mastery.

She waved goodbye to the water nymphs as an extra ward came shimmering around the ship, separating them from the magical creatures. The ship started to descend into the water and she smiled as she thought, _Hogwarts, here we come._

ooOOoo

Albus Dumbledore walked back to the Entrance Hall after having a short talk with Madame Maxime and asking Minerva to escort her to her quarters in the section of the castle that had been revamped for the use of their guests. He wondered if the three students that had transferred away from Hogwarts would be part of the Durmstrang entourage. Severus had reported their successful integration into the Durmstrang student community, adding that the professors had been surprised and interested at the students' level of knowledge having assumed that their curriculum was somewhat more stringent than Hogwarts. Albus had pondered that revelation with a bit of regret as he remembered how upset his transfiguration and charms professors had been when notified that their starring students had decided to leave the school. _Well, _he thought, _if they come we shall be able to judge them from their performance in classes this year._ His roaming glance stopped briefly at the sight of his Potions Master waiting with the rest of the professors at the front steps and thought about his reticence at speaking on his current side project. The Hogwarts Headmaster had been glad it had offered a verifiable excuse for Snape's visits to Durmstrang, yet he was aware that there might be more going on under that guise. Unfortunately Severus seemed to take the dratted book with him wherever he went so Albus hadn't been able to take a peek himself.

It was plain bad luck that Sirius had somehow misplaced his version. He had been more open about the contents of the _Treatise_ he'd received than Severus had been and Albus now wished he had had the foresight to keep closer tabs on Sirius when he had been working on it. As Sirius had not studied Arithmancy, he had a hard time deciphering the meaning behind important parts of the book. The library at Hogwarts as well as the Black family's collection of books had helped somewhat as Albus hadn't been to keen on bringing Professor Vector into the project, but their overreaching goal had been to decipher the magic behind the dark artifacts in No. 12 Grimmauld Place. Unfortunately that plan had backfired when Sirius took hasty steps to gather parts for an experiment they had discussed and had been stopped by the same people that had delivered the _Treatise_. Black's unexpected loss of memory on anything pertaining the book other than a hazy recollection of it being a dissertation on dark magic and artifacts was disconcerting as the Healers in St. Mungo's and Albus's own spells had detected no memory charm or outside magic that would cause it. Not understanding what was happening and yet realizing the importance of the knowledge he had lost had Sirius on a short temper for months.

Seeing the Potions Master shift his attention towards the lake prompted Albus to look in that direction as well, in time to see the a ship emerge from the depths of the lake, bearing the Durmstrang banner.

ooOOoo

Leevi and Christelle followed the rest of the students into the ship, lining up in two columns by decreasing year, headed by Durmstrang Headmaster Igor Karkaroff. Professor Metzger triggered a ward to open the door and lay a ramp down onto Hogwarts grounds, bringing up the rear of the group.

The walk up to the castle was made in a concise and purposeful manner, as all students given permission to attend the Tri-Wizard Tournament had been carefully selected and drilled towards the strong and orderly conduct befitting true sons and daughters of Durmstrang in the presence of all. They watched Karkaroff, a headmaster few of them had much contact with, greet Dumbledore and the rest of the professors. Following the Deputy Headmaster's instructions, Karkaroff proceeded to refuse politely their offer of lodging inside the castle, truthfully citing the need for Durmstrang students to remain on the ship for full access to facilities they had brought with them to keep up their rigorous training schedule. Dumbledore smiled, twinkled, and invited them in to dinner, as the representatives of Beauxbatons had already arrived.

Leevi caught Harry's eye and winked in greeting. Harry nudged Hermione and pointed them out, and Hermione proceeded to wave enthusiastically. The twins gave their friends a small smile in greeting but for the most part kept their eyes trained on their Headmaster, as did all Durmstrang students. After Karkaroff greeted Snape, they followed him to a side room to wait for Dumbledore to announce them to the school. Their headmaster only knew to walk with Victor Krum behind Lena and Aaden—but that was enough. As soon as the announcement was made, the third years (being the youngest allowed to come on the trip) followed by the fourth years, entered the Great Hall in two orderly columns, staffs clanging loudly and in perfect unison on the floor, emitting sparks upon contact. The third years step to the side while spinning their staffs as the fourth and fifth year students stepped through, pairs squaring off in well-practiced offensive and defensive staff maneuvers that ended in the weapons clashing overhead, emitting sparks. The sixth years ran forward, past the third years still keeping time with sound and the sparks emitted by their staffs hitting the floor, lining up and crouching to the side of the students holding staffs aloft, releasing a fiery display of the Durmstrang eagle to announce the arrival of their headmaster accompanied by the seventh year students.

Harry and Hermione, along with most Hogwarts students in attendance ogled the performance while Dumbledore welcomed Karkaroff to the Head table with open arms.

"Blimey—that was Victor Krum!" Ron whispered, his attention drifting away from his initial sneer at seeing the return of the Maximus twins and Draco Malfoy to Hogwarts grounds.

"Wow, that was—" Hermione seemed at a loss for words. Harry nodded. He knew his friends hadn't seen much of the twins since they'd left Hogwarts, but even having seen some of their training drills over the summer, he had not expected the powerful, authoritative entrance. He glanced over to where Jasmine had sat down with the rest of the students from Beauxbatons and saw the same expression on her face. As Karkaroff sat down, the Durmstrang students fell back into their two neat columns and marched—there was no other way to describe it—to the other end of the fifth table gracing the Great Hall that night. Dumbledore had arranged for it to sit at the same level as the tables for the four Hogwarts houses, but it was placed parallel to the head table. Beauxbatons had claimed the end closest to Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, so the Durmstrang students sat down at the Slytherin-Hufflepuff half.

The Hogwarts headmaster stood up and welcomed everyone to Hogwarts.

"This year, we will be holding the tri-Wizard tournament, of which only students that have attained the age of seventeen years will be allowed to participate as champions for each of the three schools: Beauxbatons, Durmstrang, and Hogwarts! To submit yourself for consideration you will need to place your name in the Goblet of Fire on a piece of parchment—and tomorrow evening the Goblet will reveal to us the names of the three champions for this year's tournament. Be advised, however—" he said, taking a couple of seconds to stare at the Weasley twins who were smiling back with wide, innocent eyes as Filch wheeled in a highly decorated chest, "that an age-line will surround the Goblet of Fire, bringing repercussions to any student wanting to cast their names in under the age of seventeen." With that, he opened the chest and pulled out the Goblet. He placed it on a stand and drew out his wand to form the incantation for the age-line before turning back to the students.

"Tonight we have formally welcomed the students of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang to our beloved Hogwarts. I beseech you to extend this welcome for the entirety of their stay as they will be joining us in our classes, in our castle, and on our grounds. Starting from tomorrow, the fifth table shall be incorporated between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables—however, I encourage you to mingle to find and make new friends amongst the members of a different magical community. After all, the lessons can be learned outside of the classroom and this is a wonderful opportunity to do so. Now, tuck in!"

Harry turned Hermione and smiled. "I think Fred and George are going to try to enter their names in that goblet."

Hermione snorted as she served herself some food. "I don't doubt it, and to whatever the consequences of trying to breach the age-line the headmaster put up, I say good riddance!"

"Well, it's just too bad that the age-line limits contestants to those that are seventeen." Ron said, wrinkling his nose as he forked some more food in his mouth. "Would love to get a chance to thrash Malfoy."

"Slow down Ron, before you choke!" Hermione scolded reflexively. The red-haired teenager just rolled his eyes at her.

"You know, I've heard that this tournament is very dangerous. Champions have gotten seriously hurt in the tasks, some have even gotten killed." Neville added, giving a shiver of displeasure. "Life's interesting enough without playing dangerous games at school, don't you think?"

"But Nev—there's the _honor_ of being a Champion, and the prize! Five thousand galleons—a bloke could do a lot with that. Besides, with all the stuff you've done, I'm sure you'd be fine." Ron said dismissively.

"Where'd you hear about the tri-Wizard tournament?" Hermione asked. "I've been reading a book on it from the library since Professor Dumbledore mentioned it at the beginning of the year, but it doesn't have that much information about it, mostly just history—nothing specific though, definitely not anything to do with the Champions themselves."

"Dumbledore and Uncle Sam had me do some extra reading this summer." He said with a shrug. "I can show you the book later if you want—I'll have to owl my uncle for it, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind. It's got loads of information, even some examples of the tasks the champions had to face. Imagine—one year they had them retrieve something from a colony of harpies!! Aerial combat. Ugh."

"But you said people've died? This is a barbaric custom!" Hermione huffed, nudging the boy sitting at her side. "Don't you agree Harry? Harry?" she turned to see what was distracting the raven-haired boy. He was watching the Durmstrang students as they stood up as one when their Headmaster stood up to leave the table. Karkaroff nodded at them to continue their meal but they stayed on their feet until he had exited the Great Hall, accompanied by Dumbledore.

"It's weird, don't you think? They seem so… well trained."

Hermione shivered. "It reminds me of military bootcamp."

"What? What are you talking about?" Ron asked.

Hermione shook her head. "A muggle thing, Ron. A muggle thing."

On the other hand, now that their headmaster had left, the Durmstrang students seemed to ease up and she even heard Christelle laugh at something Leevi said. Hermione raised an eyebrow when saw her grin at Malfoy, who was sitting beside her, and although she kept her thoughts to herself, Ron was not so reticent in keeping his.

"Oy, Potter—when did your cousins become so chummy with Malfoy?" turning to Neville, he whispered, "I _told _you they'd turn dark—if not before Durmstrang than definitely while they were there!"

Harry rolled his eyes, as this was a road they had all traveled through numerous times and he knew nothing he said would convince Ron otherwise. He looked up when Ron stiffened though.

"Harry!" Jasmine ran into his back and climbed onto the bench eagerly, wedging herself between him and Hermione.

He gave her a quick hug and a smile, then turned back to see Leevi and Christelle walking over. He noticed that some of the students from both visiting schools had dispersed to mingle with the Hogwarts students.

"Hey Leevi, Christelle! How was Durmstrang the last couple of months?"

Leevi smirked. "Cold."

Christelle laughed and slapped him on the arm. "Hey you guys. How are you?"

"Better when you _stayed_ in your dark fortress." Ron muttered.

"You want to say that to my face, Weasley?" Christelle asked, her light tone contrasting with the seriousness of her words.

"Now, now, no need to get upset. I'm sure Ron didn't mean anything by it, right?" Hermione said, glaring at the red head. He just angled his body to turn away from the others as he dished up some dessert.

Christelle shook her head but turned to smile at the rest of the Gryffindor table. "How are you Ginny? Neville?"

Ginny linked her arm through Neville's and gave her a confident smile. "We're doing fine, thank you. Are you staying in the castle while you're here?" Neville patted her hand absently and nodded his greeting with a neutral demeanor.

Christelle and Leevi both stiffened slightly. "No, we're staying on the ship."

"Hermione, Harry tells me that you two are still leading that study group—would either of you mind if Christelle and I join it again while we're here? And would you mind if we invited some of our other classmates?"

"Of course not!"

"What—doing so badly you need Hogwarts students to tutor you now?" Ron asked.

"Actually, we thought it would be a great way to discuss theories on different methods of education employed at the three schools." Leevi said calmly. "We Durmstrang students actually take our examinations—equivalents to your OWLS, at the end of our fourth year so we have ample time and opportunity to choose an area to specialize in. Gives us a leg-up in finding job positions or setting up an apprenticeship." Hermione's eyes grew wide at that.

"Why doesn't Hogwarts have that?" she asked.

The Maximus twins shrugged. "I guess they consider the NEWTS an equivalent to it since you get to choose your subjects and need to test into the classes. Durmstrang's curriculum simply asks you to make your decision a year earlier."

"But would your being here for this year affect your preparation? I mean, I've started studying for my OWLS but if you're to be ready by the end of the year—the classes here aren't designed to prepare you until next year!"

"Don't worry Hermione, we worked it out with the Deputy Headmaster." Christelle said, putting a claming hand on the girl's shoulder. "All fourth years that were allowed to come to Hogwarts had to take tests before we came, and we'll be taking extra lessons on the ship to complement the Hogwarts curriculum. We should be fine for the end-of-year exams."

"Speaking of which—" Leevi said, turning to look at the Durmstrang table. "We should probably get going. Metzger is leaving day after tomorrow, so you can be sure he's going to work all of us hard when morning comes. His last chance at pummeling all of us until the champion is selected tomorrow night, eh?" he said with a half smile. Christelle winced theatrically and nodded.

"We'll meet you here for breakfast tomorrow?" she asked glancing around the table. Getting nods from Harry, Hermione, and Jasmine, and a shrug from Neville, the twins headed back to join the group from Durmstrang, staffs gleaming on their backs.

ooOOoo

**AN: Don't worry, we'll be hearing about the twins' adventures at Durmstrang in bits and pieces as the tri-Wizard tournament begins… Please R&R! Thanks.**


	17. Champions

Disclaimer: I'm not JKR, what belongs to her doesn't belong to me

**Disclaimer: I'm not JKR, what belongs to her doesn't belong to me. Sniff!**

**AN: For Jasmine speaking French: she's been in Beauxbatons for a year—yes, that's not enough time to learn a language, but she's picked up enough to hold some conversation and she wears a translator thing like the same way Leevi, Christelle and Draco use in Durmstrang. Did I forget to mention that? Sorry. Comes with writing different versions of the last chapter…**

**ooOOoo**

**Champions**

**ooOOoo**

Leevi and Christelle joined the group of Durmstrang students pouring out of the ship the next morning. Grouped by year, the students dressed in their training uniforms, long sleeved black tops with the Durmstrang eagle blazing red on the arms, grey pants, and black boots. The seventh years led the way to the lake and they started the morning exercises that had been drilled into them before moving on to age-specific drills. Paul Metzger watched, instructed, pushed, and prodded, studying the students in front of him. Some of them were the best he had taught and all of them were the best of their year group. It was part of the reason why they had been allowed to come but if it had been up to him, they would have stayed behind in Durmstrang. For them to spend a year outside of the vigorous training program was a waste. Unfortunately Karkaroff had put his foot down, claiming it was important to publicize the institution in a good light and what better way than to participate in the tri-Wizard Tournament and bring an entourage that would make Durmstrang proud?

He snorted as he rearranged the pairings for drills. He glanced down the line and rolled his eyes at the Maximus twins. Even though he hadn't trained them in the first two years of their schooling, they had arrived at Durmstrang prepared for his grueling pace. He didn't even bother switching their partners. Aleksader Krum and Draco Malfoy were good—and at the beginning had had a better grip on dark curses, but at this point they were quite obviously second to the twins. He had started to train them with the fifth years to give them the chance to duel someone that was a challenge apart from each other.

_Flashback_

Paul Metzger watched the second year students go through the dueling exercise, fixing stances and wand movements when needed. There was a small number of students who caught on faster than others and for those, he gave instructions on how to decrease casting time and increase power. He watched two of the Hogwarts transfers and young Aleksander Krum, the three in this year group that showed the most promise, and motioned them to join him at the side of the room.

"Professor Metzger." They greeted.

He nodded and conjured three desks and chairs, parchment, ink, and quill.

"Sit down. Write your names." He watched as they did as they were instructed without pause. _Good, _he thought, _those twins would have asked questions before following instructions a month ago. They're learning._

"Now switch the quill to your left hand. Write your names without looking at the parchment." Aleksander and Leevi's faces showed signs of concentration, but Christelle looked calm as she followed the instructions. Metzger took their pieces of parchment and studied them. The boys had some control—normal for well-coordinated youngsters writing with their non-dominant hand, even if Leevi had smudged some of the ink. Christelle Maximus's parchment was a welcome surprise however. He recognized her name written neatly, in cursive, an exact replica of how she wrote with her dominant hand—if he held a mirror up to it. She'd written it from right to left. That could lead to interesting developments.

He nodded and banished the parchment, ink, and quills. The three students stood up and he banished the desk and chairs as well.

"You three will be working on a special project in addition to regular training with me. See the Deputy Headmaster after dinner." With that, he had them rejoin the others in their exercises.

He'd watched from a shadowed corner when the three students entered Petrovsky's office later that night.

"Come in, come in." Dmitri Petrovsky motioned for them to take seats. "Professor Metzger tells me you three have exhibited quite some talent on the field. I know that he has been keeping an eye on you, Aleksander, but you two," he said, looking at the twins, "must have done something interesting for him to bring this to my attention within a few months of you being here."

He reached into a drawer and brought out three wands. "The special training Professor Metzger was referring to is the sort of training that must be started at a relatively young age but is not given to many for most do not have talent for it. Usually we would start you with writing or drawing with your non-dominant hand to increase your control, but you'll have to do that on your own time as Professor Metzger wants you to get started on these. These wands are on loan for you to practice with for the rest of the year. Start with simple spells and charms—no dueling spells without supervision, or the privilege of training to duel with two wands will be taken from you. How far you go with this depends on your personal interest. You may go as far as being proficient in a lower level of dueling with your non-dominant hand if your wand hand is incapacitated in a fight, or you can go to the extent of being able to duel with two wands simultaneously. It's not a project to be taken on lightly and only a handful of Durmstrang students have been trained thusly. You will need to find a second wand over the summer. Questions?"

He smiled as the three gobsmacked students took the wands reverently. He'd enjoy training these three. Oh yes, he would.

_End Flashback_

"Weapon's course!" he bellowed, smirking as the third years tried to conceal their groans as everyone took out their staffs. "First degree, begin!"

ooOOoo

Leevi and Christelle walked into the Great Hall with Draco and Aleksander. Draco and Aleksander moved to the Slytherin table while the twins joined the Gryffindors after taking a slight detour to greet their friends from the other Houses. Sitting across from Harry and Hermione, they dished up their breakfast with gusto.

"Hey guys." Harry yawned. "Hungry this morning?"

Leevi smiled as he poured himself some pumpkin juice. "Training will do that to you, mate."

"Training?" Hermione asked, her head perking up in interest.

"Yup. Two hours this morning. Do you think the 7th years will cut it down a bit after Metzger leaves?" Christelle asked.

"Who knows? I guess it depends on which two we'll be saddled with. At least we'll have Sundays off."

"Hey look—" Harry pointed out the Beauxbatons students lining up around the Goblet of Fire. They watched as five of them took turns flicking small pieces of rolled up parchment, tied with blue ribbon, into the fire before retreating to the table in the middle of the hall to dish up breakfast. A few minutes later, the three Durmstrang seventh year students strode forward and dropped their names in.

"Do you know if the students from Hogwarts have entered their names yet?" Leevi asked Harry, who laughed and pointed down the table.

"See the missing Weasley twins? The rumors are that they tried to put their names in early this morning and haven't been seen since. They were up all night brewing a potion to help them pass the age-line."

"Good morning!" Jasmine walked up to them with two other Beauxbaton students. "Claude, Marie, this is my brother Harry, that's Leevi and Christelle!"

"Are you er—triplets?" Claude asked shyly.

Harry laughed. "No—those two are twins but we're just cousins. You three want to join us for breakfast?"

Jasmine nodded and climbed onto the bench. "The Head Girl is going to give us a tour of Hogwarts after breakfast!"

"The Head Boy is supposed to do that for Durmstrang students." Leevi said with a shrug and a smile. "We'll probably tag a long and put in some fun commentary. Do you guys want to meet up after that?"

Harry nodded, smiling as Hermione rolled her eyes. "I promised to show Jasmine the _fun_ parts of the castle. And play a pick-up game of Quidditch at 6." Harry whispered to Leevi, nudging him in the ribs. "You think you can scrounge up some players from Durmstrang?"

Leevi smiled. "Oh, I'm sure I can."

ooOOoo

Leevi and Christelle trailed after the rest of the Durmstrang students as they prowled through the halls of the old castle.

"Has she always been like this?" Leevi asked as they walked by a suit of armour. Christelle walked quietly beside him, fingers trailing on the stone walls.

She smiled, knowing he was finally seeing Hogwarts with his mage sight. "She's mostly the same as when we left. It's been one and a half years and she's woken up some but I think she's been concentrating the extra magic elsewhere." She took in his questioning glance and made a small motion to the window outside as they headed up to the Astronomy tower. Leevi moved unobtrusively to the side and glanced outside, almost losing his footing when the gargoyle decorating the window sill turned his head minutely to give him a small nod.

Christelle chuckeled and grabbed his arm to help him regain his footing. "Yeah, they haven't done that in a while."

Leevi smirked. "Think the gargoyle outside of Dumbledore's office might be awake too?"

"What are you thinking of now, Leevi?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. His only answer was an extra twitch of the lips.

ooOOoo

At dinner, students sat with their respective schools. The students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang rose as the headmasters from all three schools entered from the side door and sat at the head table. There were excited whispers flittering around the room as students debated who would be the selected champions. A burst of laughter from the Hogwarts tables accompanied the entrance of the Weasley twins. Turning around to look at them, Leevi couldn't hold back a chuckle either. They hobbled in with knobbly knees, crooked canes, and bald heads, swinging mugs of butterbeer and sloshing it all over the place. Thankfully, not _on_ any of the Durmstrang students who could have easily taken offence.

"I see you two have been trying to circumvent Dumbledore's enforcement of the age-restriction." He said lightly. The twins turned to him.

"Blimey—Forge!"

"I'll say, Gred!"

"It's the Potter replicas return to the fold!" They crowed together, patting Christelle and Leevi on the head.

"Aaaww, wittle Maximuses—"

"So young, so young!"

"Don't know how you do it—"

"Nope, really don't, it must be the age difference—"

"What are you two blabbering about now?" Christelle asked with a laugh.

"Oh, you two youngersters surviving—"

"In the bitter cold dungeons of the Durmstrang fortress."

"Would be hell on the bones of us mature gents, right Gred?"

"No doubt about it, Forge!"

"All right, all right—go slurp your applesauce dinner. Or did you accidentally keep your teeth after your mysterious aging?" Leevi asked as they hobbled along.

"Oy!"

"I'll let you know, young Leevi—"

"That there are things called _dentures!"_

"Fred—I know I've got mine, but where are yours?"

"Blimey—my mind's flying away with all this old age…" he muttered as he threw the twins a wink and perched themselves at the Gryffindor table. "Young Weasley! Pass the potatoes! No, not _those_ potatoes, the _mashed_ potatoes."

"Really, the young generation has no respect, no respect…"

Aleksander leaned forward to ask Leevi, "Who where those two?"

"The Weasley twins," he replied with a smile. "Halloween's only a couple of weeks away. We should plan something for it, don't you think?"

The Durmstrang students that heard his comment smiled slightly, before returning to their dinners.

ooOOoo

Albus Dumbledore watched his students mingle with each other, the sounds of their voices and laughter reaching and lifting his spirits. After getting reports from Severus on how the Maximus twins had seemed to settle in at Durmstrang, he had assumed that it was due to their absorbance of the Dark Arts. Seeing them conversing with the Potters and other Gryffindors at breakfast this morning had done nothing to alleviate his worries of them trying to recruit his Light followers into the folds of Dark magic. He could see how well integrated they were in the Durmstrang community and he was glad that he—with Alastor and Remus, of course—had been able to establish in the Boy-Who-Lived a need for caution, trepidation, and _proof_ of good intentions, manners, and magic amongst any non-Hogwarts students he decided to befriend.

At long last, both the dinner and pudding had arrived, been eaten, and cleared off the tables. Dumbleodre walked majestically out into the hall and brought in the Goblet of Fire. He waved his wand at the Goblet and caught a small piece of rolled parchemnent, slightly burned around the edges.

"Dear students, it is my pleasure to present the Champion for Beauxbatons—Mademoiselle Fleur Delacour!" The students in Beauxbatons blue cheered and stood clapping for their fellow classmate. The Hogwarts studnts clapped politely while the Durmstrang students pounded the table lightly with their knuckles.

"And the Champion for Durmstrang is—Victor Krum!" This time, the Durmstrang students set up a chant with their champion's last name as he stood up to recognize his nomination.

"And the Champion for Hogwarts is—Cedric Diggory!" The Hufflepuffs led the other houses in cheering as the other schools clapped politely. Even the Slytherins joined somewhat.

"At least it wasn't a Gryffindor." Nott muttered under his breath.

Everyone was clapping politely when another piece of parchment flew out of the Goblet of Fire. Christelle grabbed Leevi's arm and pulled him back into his seat.

"It appears," Dumbledore paused as silence fell over the Great Hall, "that we have a _fourth_ Champion in the tri-Wizard Tournament this year." His gaze raked over the crowded room before alighting on the Boy-Who-Lived. "Neville Longbottom." The fire in the goblet went out.

ooOOoo

The uproar was tremendous. Despite his frustration at Neville's consistent backing of Dumbledore (which he had to admit he may have fallen to himself if the old man had bothered to give him any kind of training), Leevi felt sorry for the Boy-Who-Lived. He knew what it was like when no one seemed to believe him, claiming a breach of the purpose of holding a tournament across schools to have such cheating come forth. Madame Maxime and Headmaster Karkaroff left the Great Hall with Dumbledore to discuss what would happen with the choosing of a fourth champion. Meanwhile, Victor Krum was standing up in the Great Hall. McGonagall watched him closely, ready to intervene if needed.

Victor walked over to the Beauxbatons half of the table and strode over to Fleur, holding out a hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Miss Delacour." She offered her hand and nodded in greeting. Then, he turned to the Hufflepuff table and shook Cedric's hand. "Mr. Diggory."

"Mr. Krum." Cedric returned, standing up in return but staying by his table. Fleur and Cedric shared a nod in acknowledgement of each other as contestants in the tournament. Victor returned to his seat without looking at the Gryffindor table, Fleur turned to drink from her goblet, and Cedric sat down after catching Neville's eye for a second.

Everyone's eyes were trained on Neville when Ron stood up and stormed away from the Great Hall.

ooOOoo

"Karkaroff's back." Draco announced as he walked down the hall, tapping on Christelle and Leevi's room. "You guys coming to the meeting?"

"Yeah."

They slipped on their blood red robes and headed to the chilly meeting room. "Who's in charge of the warming charms anyway?" Draco groused as he sat down in a chair.

"Charm your clothes then, Mr. Wizard." Aleksander smirked as he dropped into the chair next to him. "What agreement do you suppose they've come up with?"

No one answered this as they all stood up in attention when Karkaroff strode into the room.

"Sit." Karkaroff let his eye roam over the students from his school. "Victor, join me." After a pause to wait for the selected Durmstrang champion to make his way briskly to his side, he continued his announcement. "Placing one's name in the Goblet of Fire means submitting to a magically binding contract, so Longbottom will have to compete." He raised a hand to quiet the murmurs. "Since the fire in the goblet has gone out, we cannot add more names to select second champions for each school or redo the selection. We have gone over the rules and regulations of the tri-Wizard Tournament and there seems to be no loophole to remove him from the competition without placing due harm on his magic due to the contract. However, we have come unto a—compromise. Longbottom will not represent Hogwarts—that role falls on Cedric Diggory as he _does_ fulfill all the requirements of a legal champion and was the first announced for Hogwarts. Instead, he will be an entity onto himself. If he wins the tournament, he will receive the reward money as well as the trophy and title of Champion, but no school name will be adhered to the victory."

Mumurs rose at this declaration. "Dismissed!" he called and made a move to leave. The students quieted down immediately and stood respectfully until he left the room.

ooOOoo

"What are you doing?"

"Writing."

"What are you writing him about?"

Christelle looked up and paused a bit before answering. "The fact that Neville's name came out of the Goblet of Fire. As one of the _Treatises_ was written about magical artifacts," she said, waving towards her trunk where their pilfered copy of it lay, "I thought he might have some theories on how they altered it to provide four names instead of three. With the history behind that goblet, it shouldn't have been easy to tamper with."

Leevi nodded, sitting on the floor next to her bed and drawing his knees up to lay his arms over them. "You won't mention the water nymphs? Or the gargoyles?" he asked, gazing at the wall.

"No." she said tensely.

"And you'll let me read over the letter before you send it?"

"Yes." She said, glaring at his back.

He nodded, got up and walked to the door. "You know why I'm doing this, right?" he asked softly, turning around.

She nodded, turning back to her parchment as he quietly left her room.

_Flashback_

"Ah, thank you for coming Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Maximus, Miss Maximus." The deputy headmaster waved them into his office. "Please, take a seat."

"Now there are a few things we need to go through before the three of you are discharged for the summer vacation in a few weeks. I know it's a bit early, but I like to get this out of the way before exams. First of all, I would like to congratulate the three of you on your excellent integration into Durmstrang. We don't usually accept transfers seeing as our curriculum places a heavy emphasis on physical and magical training for dueling—I'm sure you have noticed. After some time in other schools, it becomes too difficult for some students to catch up to our pace. The three of you have done remarkably well.

Secondly, I advise you not to let up too much on your personal training over the next couple of months—if you do, you will find your return in the fall to be a harsh wake-up call and Professor Metzger will not run you through practice lightly because it's the beginning of the term. Furthermore, these books will help prepare you for the third year political discourse class. The other students have been exposed to this type of thinking and each have a copy of this already. You should study it this summer."

The three students leaned forward in their chairs to take the books. Draco looked at his curiously but merely placed it on his lap with a quick nod to the deputy headmaster. Leevi resisted the urge to flip through the pages and look over at Christine. Its cover was a navy blue but the build seemed oddly familiar.

"Lastly, we come to the question of what will be the easiest way for you to return to Durmstrang next fall." Petrovsky continued. "Our spell master has made portkeys tied to our students' magical signatures for the past few years and I think its time you met him. Follow me."

They stood up and followed him down the hallways and into the tunnels underneath Durmstrang. "As you have undoubtedly found out, these tunnels do not merely lead to the castle—there are numerous rooms and large caverns throughout, although most are not in use. This one, however," he said, ducking through a rough archway, "is one each student ends up visiting once in their Durmstrang career."

Leevi and Christelle followed Draco through and found themselves in a large open space, light somehow reflected off the stones on the wall to illuminate the workroom where large tables were scattered with scrolls and magical artifacts. At the back, sat a familiar looking man. Christelle swallowed hard.

"Master Lovegood?" Petrovsky called, "We have need of three specified portkeys."

Leevi prodded Christelle to keep up with them as the walked up and waited as Dmitri Petrovsky spoke with Luna's father.

Master Lovegood nodded a few times and smiled warmly at them. "Well, why don't you three pick out something from that corner to use as a portkey? Choose wisely, mind you—I will not make another portkey for you and if you misplace it you'll have to arrange alternative ways to come within the vicinity of Durmstrang, something the Deputy Headmaster dislikes to deal with."

Half an hour later, they had their portkeys. Draco had chosen a small pin in the shape of an occamy while Christelle and Leevi had chosen rings. They followed the deputy headmaster back to the castle, but two days later found Christelle sneaking down between classes to speak to Master Lovegood about the unique qualities of magical signatures.

Master Lovegood didn't mind the young girl who seemed to have a genuine interest in magical theory and became especially intrigued when he spied her smiling at an earth pygmie—she was the first he had encountered who seemed to be able to see the little magical beings, everyone else gained a feel for the effects of their magic but couldn't see them themselves. Other than his late family, that is. So he made time for her on the days she came down. Her brother came to visit a few times with her but he didn't feel the same kind of connection as he did with the young Christelle.

It was during one of those visits that Christelle found out what this version of her father had been working on the last few years. On one of the work tables filled with scrolls, she spied a familiar looking book that appeared to be in the process of being revised. Seeing that the master spellcaster was still entranced in his work and he had told her to look around for a few minutes while he finished something, she made her way to the work table and skimmed the familiar handwriting. Turning the book over on its side, she saw one work in silver spidery writing on the cover. _Treatise_.

"Miss Maximus?"

Christelle jumped and spun around. Xenophilius's pensive face was disturbingly close as he leaned over to take the book from her hands. "Ah, I see you've found one of my on going projects."

"How does studying magical signatures have anything to do with magical artifacts?" she asked innocently.

"Constant use of an object by a magical being will impart upon it bits and pieces of magic—constantly being used for specific rituals will imbue an artifact with a certain magical personality. Don't you think different magical auras will influence objects differently? There's some research being done—not much mind you, but some—on how to charge an object with a person's magic… quite wondrous, really."

"Like the student portkeys?"

"Hmmm… not quite, as that is more similar to making an aspect of an individual's magical signature the key to unlocking the spell that makes the object a portkey."

Leevi had not taken the news that Master Lovegood was involved in writing the _Treatise_ very well. He had cautioned her against saying too much. Roundabout questions about the single picture of Luna and her mother on Master Lovegood's work desk had suggested that the Luna Lovegood of this world had perished with her mother at the age of nine, something that coincided with the beginning of Xenophilius Lovegood's work at Durmstrang.

"He asked me my opinions on mythical magical creatures." Christelle said one afternoon as he packed his trunk. They were leaving for the summer the next day.

"What did you tell him?"

"We had an interesting conversation about nargles."

"Christelle—"

"What did you want me to do?" she asked, tears in her eyes. He quickly dropped the book he was holding and moved over to the bed where she was sitting. Taking her hands in his, he looked into her eyes and spoke softly.

"I know you want to get close to him, to talk to him like you used to but you _have_ to be careful. He's not the same as he was before." He said, drawing her into a hug. "I'm sorry to have to continue to remind you about this, but I pulled that _Treatise_ off of Sirius after he got attacked by _Lucius Malfoy_ over it. Even if Draco has stopped strutting around pretending to be the next favorite of the Dark Lord…"

"I know," she whispered. "I know."

_End Flashback_

ooOOoo

Glares interspersed by silence or angry murmurs followed Neville on Monday morning. He'd tried to talk to Ron but his red-haired friend only grumbled in response and left the dorm room with Seamus and Dean behind him. He tried to meet the eyes of the other students at the Gryffindor table but had trouble doing so. He had spent yesterday skirting other students, staying in the library or in the dorms when the students were out, reading about past tri-Wizard tournaments feverishly. His attempts to speak to the headmaster hadn't given fruit and now he had to brave classes with everyone glaring at him. It didn't help that they had announced Cedric as the Hogwarts Champion and himself as… a fourth champion not representing a school. The article this morning in the Daily Prophet hadn't lifted his spirits much as they centered around theories of the different reasons the Goblet had named him as a champion. Neville had clearly stated at the breakfast table that he hadn't placed his name in the goblet—but all he had received was a scathing glare from Ron and a taunt from the Slytherin table about him making up a situation where people were out to get him again. He'd decided to cut breakfast short at that point and left the Great Hall quickly, knowing that students were watching his retreat.

He slumped into a chair and waited for the rest of the students and Professor Binns to arrive for class. As the crowd arrived, he noticed without surprise that Ron decided to take a table in the back with Seamus rather than sit with him. He was surprised however, when Hermione sat down next to him and pulled out her History of Magic textbook.

"We believe you." She said quietly as their ghostly professor glided to the podium. "Harry and I do, and Leevi and Christelle." She said, sneaking a glance and a small smile at him. "I know you haven't taken up on the offer before, but you can still seek out the study group if you want. Ron too, if he stops being a git."

Seeing as that was the first non-hostile thing anyone had said to him in the last day and a half, Neville couldn't help but smile. "Thanks." He whispered as he glanced towards the desks in the back of the room. Ron was glaring at the four Durmstrang students. He was surprised to see Christelle sharing a desk with Draco Malfoy and Leevi sitting with another Durmstrang student. He'd assumed that the twins would stick together, but now that he thought about it, they'd seemed pretty chummy with the former Slytherin and the other Durmstrang students.

Hermione followed his gaze and elbowed him, nodding her head towards the professor. He smiled as he turned his attention to the front of the classroom. He'd still try to talk some sense into Ron as he was his best friend, but it was good to know that some people did believe him. Thinking back on the examples of Tournament tasks presented in his book, he suppressed a shudder and decided that joining Hermione's study group—with or without Ron—might be a good idea this year. A very good idea.

ooOOoo

**A/N: There, we finally find out a little bit about Mr. Lovegood being at Durmstrang. First task and further developments coming up… **


	18. First Task

First Task

**Disclaimer: HP characters aren't mine.**

**AN: Sorry for taking so long. Thank you for your patience and all the reviews encouraging me to continue the story! I have no plans to discontinue the story, but have been having some trouble writing lately. **

**ooOOoo**

**First Task**

**ooOOoo**

Draco watched the Nott during lunch discreetly—noting that the Slytherin gave him thoughtful looks as well. Crabbe and Goyle had stayed at Nott's side in the same way they had before he'd left Hogwarts and couldn't say that he was surprised. He still didn't remember much of what had happened those last months at Hogwarts and his father had argued that as a reason for him to remain at Durmstrang… and yet something had drawn him to return to Hogwarts. Fortunately the Deputy Headmaster had seen it prudent to allow him to work out the lingering issues he had left unsettled at his old school and given him permission to attend the Tournament. Following several conversations with his father and various promises to be vigilant and avoid the group-mentality of the Houses at Hogwarts, he had received parental permission for the trip. Lucius Malfoy had changed over the past two years—he could trace the change to the day Dumbledore had called him in to alert him of what had transpired in the Chamber of Secrets. He had never seen his father as pale as that day in the Hogwarts Infirmary and had been surprised at how feverishly he'd worked at getting him transferred to Durmstrang.

Then he'd received an unexpected lecture. Throughout his years growing up in Malfoy Manor, the overwhelming sentiment had been the importance and draw of power, the depravity of the current government, and the importance of blood purity—and in the span of two hours, the head of the Malfoy family had turned the first of those three pillars into a horrific story of servitude that went against the grain of the noble Malfoy line.

Ambition was better served by cunning than outright expression of power.

His grey eyes raked the Slytherin table, bypassing Nott for the moment. He paused as he recognized Blaise Zabini—one of the few students that avidly declared his family neutrality, and his thoughts drifted to the Maximus twins' invitation to join their study group. A study group widely known even during his first years at Hogwarts for its inclusion of students from all four houses. The twins had proven to be interesting characters—still Gryffindors at heart, but curiously hesitant to declare the world in black and white as so many of their counterparts did. He had taken a calculated risk in befriending them and had not been disappointed, even if he was periodically disgusted by some of their rash actions. _Perhaps, _he thought, _it's time to make another controversial decision. _

ooOOoo

The next few days proved to be a trial for Neville Longbottom. As he dodged stares, whispers, and taunts, he found himself drawn towards the only place he could sometimes find himself free of judgement: the library. He found himself a secluded corner to do some reading but hadn't settled in for more than a few minutes when a group walked down the aisle and settled themselves around a large table not too far away. He watched his fellow fourth year students whisper and bring out their assignments, Hermione talking to Hannah while Harry spoke in soft whispers with Blaise Zabini. Neville briefly debated joining them when four Durmstrang students walked in.

"Christelle, Leevi!" Hermione greeted. "Take a seat!"

Harry eyed Malfoy apprehensively. "You guys brought Malfoy?"

The blond Durmstrang student looked at the Gryffindor in the eye. "Is there a problem, Potter?"

"Listen, we've all grown up some the last few years, yeah?" Leevi interrupted, making a placating gesture with his hands. "Draco's got a keen mind on political discourse and has gotten over that irrational inter-house rivalry, right?"

Draco snorted. "Somewhat."

Hermione glanced back and forth between them.

"We've managed to have interesting conversations with each other, quite civilly, I might add." Christelle said, catching Hermione's eyes. "And he lends an intriguing viewpoint of a wizard raised in a dark, pureblood household."

"And how will you refer to me, Malfoy?" Hermione asked.

"What are you talking about, Granger?" Malfoy inquired, confused.

Hermione smiled. "All right, as long as you don't stray from using my last name to refer to me, I have no problems with you joining the group." Harry smiled in understanding. The fact that Malfoy had not instantly referred to as 'mudblood' was more telling than anything else.

"Sure. Sit down, Malfoy. And who's the fourth?"

"Aleksander Krum." The fourth student spoke up, nodding slightly to the group.

"Well, take a seat then." Hermione said, taking out a piece of parchment and her wand. She made copies of it with her wand and handed them out to the new comers.

Blaise watched Draco grimace at the multicolored study schedule with a smirk. "Welcome to the fold, Malfoy."

It was another week before Christelle walked over to Neville's secluded corner and asked him a herbology question. He explained in a neutral voice and only looked up when she stood there after he'd finished his explanation. She sighed and crossed her arms.

"I'm not going to be able to explain that to the rest of the guys. Would you mind?" she asked, nodding over to the study group at the other end of the room. Neville joined them hesitantly and spent the next few meetings watching and listening, especially apprehensive when one of the Slytherins or Durmstrang students spoke. As Halloween drew closer however, he began to tentatively offer his own views on the questions posed and found himself looking forward to their meetings and discussions.

ooOOoo

"I can't believe Severus Snape's class is so…"

"Awful?" Harry supplied helpfully when Aleksander trailed off.

"He's a world-renown potions master. Youngest in ceturies." Aleksander said, shaking his head as Hermione brought out her potions textbook. "And you all let him goad you all day."

"So tell us, how would you deal with such a thing at Durmstrang?" Blaise asked blandly.

Draco raised an eyebrow as Aleksander turned towards the Slytherin. "The Deputy Headmaster would object to it for one thing. He doesn't believe in wasting time—and your potions class is simply that, a waste of time."

"But if he were at Durmstrang and the headmaster didn't do anything about it—how would you handle Snape?" Harry asked curiously.

"The same way we do here, we read up on the potions to be brewed ahead of time." The Hogwarts students other than Hermione and Blaise grimaced. He paused before asking, "Has he taught this way since your first year?" Hermione nodded. "How do any of you learn anything?" he asked.

Neville snorted. "You got me there."

"Professor Snape gives students what they need, but if they don't take up the knowledge on their own accord, you can't expect him to spend all his time spoon-feeding you the information." Draco responded.

"I've done all the reading and can follow directions fine for making potions—"

"Then what's the problem, Granger?"

"It just doesn't make any sense! Why certain ingredients need to be prepared a certain way, collected at certain times, why—"

Draco stood up and walked to a different part of the library, returning a few moments later with a large, old alchemy tome. Neville looked at it curiously. He set it on the table and flipped three quarters of the way through the book before pushing it under Hermione's nose.

"There you go, Granger. Read to your heart's content." He said before picking up a book ancient philosophy. Hermione stared at him for a moment before looking at the book. Her eyes widened and she quickly skimmed through the next three or four pages. Draco ignored her completely when she squealed and the librarian sent a glare in their direction. Aleksander and Blaise looked amused, while Harry and Neville had moved behind her to read over her shoulder.

"Draco—this is exactly what I was looking for!" she said excitedly. He merely raised an eyebrow at her use of his first name. "Why didn't I look here before?"

"Current potion-making came from two sources: herbology and alchemy. Most people don't study the art in such an in-depth manner since it's not necessary to successfully brew a potion." Blaise stated as Harry and Neville returned to their seats. They watched for a few moments as Hermione flipped back and forth between her potions textbook and the old tome.

"Granger, are you telling me that you've had this library at your disposal for the last four years and you _haven't_ used this book to supplement your potions study?" Draco asked incredulously.

"Well—"

Draco's eyes narrowed. "Are you saying that you have _not_ perused Hogwarts Library to its entirety? You've had _four bloody years_, Granger!"

Harry snorted, trying to not laugh at the blush creeping up his friend's neck and elbowed the gobsmacked Neville sitting next to him. One glance at him and Neville realized what was going on and turned an incredulous look at Draco.

"Did you just… tease… Hermione?"

Hermione glanced up at Draco with wide eyes, as he leaned back in his chair and held up the book he was reading a little higher to cover his face. Millicent and Blaise traded smirks while Terry and Hannah looked mildly surprised, but pleased.

They worked quietly for an hour before Hermione finally looked up from her reading. "Where are Leevi and Christelle?" she asked with a frown.

"Said they had some business to take care of." Harry said with a shrug.

"What business?"

"Not sure, really." Harry said as he pulled out some parchment to start his Charms essay. "Don't worry, they do this all the time—sometimes they just have to attend to something not school related."

Hermione frowned.

Draco furrowed his brows. "Drop it Granger, it's none of your business."

"But they should be taking their studies seriously! I mean—you have to take your exams this year—we at least have another year before the OWLS…"

"They said they'd be back by dinner. Don't worry, they won't miss the Halloween Feast." Aleksander said with a smile.

ooOOoo

Two brooms soared disillusioned through the air, circling the town of Little Hangleton.

They transformed into their animagi forms and ran through the woods towards the graveyard. Christelle switched back and inspected the graves while Leevi scouted the area. Finding Tom Riddle Sr.'s gravesite, she began drawing a rune circle around the site. Leevi came up after setting up temporary wards over the small graveyard.

Christelle finished laying down a continuous line of off-white powder at the edge of the rune circle. They worked without needing to talk to each other, their movements belying their past experiences going on missions together. She spelled the soil inside the rune circle to lift and separate onto two piles at the sides of the grave until the simple wooden casket was revealed. Another swish of her wand and the top was removed. Leevi transfigured the inside to be fire resistant and spelled an electric blue fire onto the bones of the late Tom Riddle Sr. until there was nothing but dust left. The fire continued its controlled burning sustained by his magic until there was nothing left. Christelle transfigured some rocks into bone remains and placed them carefully in the casket as Leevi returned the inside of the casket to plain wood and replaced the top. They used the soil to cover up the grave. A controlled _accio_ lifted the white powder back into the vessel in Christelle's left hand and a soft spoken spell lit the runes in succession. The magic washed over the tomb, leaving it looking undisturbed.

Leevi smiled as the spell came to an end and nodded in satisfaction. He cast a quick _tempus_ and grinned. "Well," he said as Christelle turned to him, "we have over an hour to get back to Hogwarts before they serve dinner."

She smiled as she cast disillusionment spells on both of them and followed him out of the graveyard. "We wouldn't want to miss that now, would we?"

ooOOoo

The Great Hall had been decorated with floating jack-o-lanterns and the tall windows spelled into colorful stained glass paintings where the inhabitants of the castle portraits could intermingle during the feast. The food was delicious and as the faculty kept a keen eye on certain students in the room, nothing untoward happened during the meal until dessert was served.

"Aaaah!" Lavender Brown shrieked as she fell off her seat.

Large black vultures flew out of the dessert pies and black bats spiraled out of drinking goblets, their forms somewhat insubstantial despite the wind their wings picked up. The headmaster had been about to take a drink and instead spilled it over himself, staining his beard purple. Snape cursed as a large vulture flew in tightening circles above his head and Moody's magical eye remained steadily on the bat perched calmly on the cane leaned on his chair. McGonagall passed some extra napkins to the headmaster as she looked over at the student tables where girls shrieked and boys ducked. "Weasleys!" The twins gave her innocent-looking shrugs that convinced no one on the head table.

Hermione tried to banish them with an _evanesco_ spell but the spell seemed to have no effect on them. Some Slytherin boys tried to _stupefy _the birds, also to no effect. Some students across the Great Hall looked at their goblets interestingly while others pointed and laughed as the flying creatures intermingled with the jack-o-lanterns, tipping some on their sides as they flew past and canceling their levitation charms. They stopped ducking the sweeping flying creatures and started to pay attention to avoiding falling pieces of pumpkin that would explode into small orange and red fireworks when they hit something.

Dumbledore stood up. "Please remain calm and seated." He waved his wand, banishing the vultures and bats into the enchanted windows where they flew past the celebrating portraits and into picturesque dark woods. Professor Flitwick drew out his wand to immobilize everything pumpkin in the room as he chuckled at the sight.

Leevi and Christelle grinned when instead of stopping their drifting or falling motion, the pumpkins exploded over the tables to cover most, if not all of those attending the feast.

Hagrid licked his lips appreciatively. "Mmm!"

Flitwick used a finger to wipe some off his brow and tasted it with an astounded face. "My, this tastes like pumpkin pie! Wondrous!"

"WEASLEY!" Snape thundered.

"Now, now, Severus—no need to get overly excited by a little innocent fun!" Dumbledore said gaily as a house elf made itself present beside him. "Tibby, please have the rest of the house elves remove the…. Ah, altered drinks and desserts and bring new ones to the tables." Tibby nodded quickly and disappeared with another pop. "Filius, some light, perhaps?"

The diminutive professor smiled and flicked his wand towards the windows, making the windows glow softly with light. Professor McGonagall shook her head, walking down the Gryffindor table and banishing the sticky mess on the table as students took it upon themselves to _scourgify_ each other. The prefects helped the younger years who hadn't learned the spell yet. The other heads of houses followed her example as Karkaroff leaned across the table towards the headmaster who was clean again, except for the purple stain on his beard that refused to come out with the _scourgify _he had cast.

"Dumbledore, are your students _always_ this rowdy on all Hallow's Eve?" Madame Maxime looked at him inquiringly as well.

"It has become something of a Hogwarts tradition." Dumbledore said with a smile.

At the Gryffindor table, Harry looked inquisitively at the Weasley twins. Fred caught his eye, smirked, then nodded lightly at the Durmstrang table. Harry laughed when he turned his head and looked at Leevi and Christelle who winked at him in turn.

Aleksander nudged Leevi with his elbow but whispered his question to the twins, "how much of that was your doing?"

Leevi shrugged with a smile while Christelle spooned some pie into her mouth. "Mmmm."

Aleksander laughed, knowing better than to ask if there were any pranks they would have to worry about at the celebration on the ship later that night. They would make and tend bonfires around the ship, gathering around the fires in small groups to tell stories of old knights, kingdoms, wizards, and witches. They would keep watch until the logs turned to ashes, paying their respects to the magic in the air. The eldest of them would scatter the ashes into the winds at the first ray of coming day. No, he didn't need to ask. The pranks on the ship would come tomorrow night.

On the other hand, the purple stain on Dumbledore's beard stayed there for the next two days.

ooOOoo

The day of the First Task dawned cheerfully sunny. Despite the blue skies reflected in the ceiling of the Great Hall, Neville felt nauseous, his skin clammy, and his heart beating too fast. He attempted to eat something at breakfast and lunch but couldn't keep anything down.

"Just a couple more hours, mate." Leevi said encouragingly as they left, Neville glancing back at Ron, who had taken to eating with Seamus and Dean and still refused to acknowledge him. Harry, Leevi, and Christelle walked him to the Gryffindor common room where he'd decided to stay until the First Task was scheduled to begin at three in the afternoon. They left the young champion and headed outside, towards the bleachers surrounding a long enclosed area, intent on staking out the best place to observe. They were met halfway to the doors with the other members of their study group and walked outside together, splitting up to sit with respective houses and schools.

Neville followed the second year Ravenclaw to a large tent situated on the grounds, a little ways off from the bleachers full of spectators and students. He noticed that the bleachers seemed to block off a large section of the field except for one side which led to the Forbidden Forest and suppressed a shudder. Walking into the tent, he resolved to portray a calm, collected façade for as long as possible. He was wearing the armour Leevi and Christelle had given him, as he had had to admit after half an hour of throwing spells at it, that it was a definite improvement from the dragon hide armour, even if a number of its features were tuned to the magic of the wearer, making its constant usage a grand advantage. He hadn't told Dumbledore about it thus keeping his promise to the twins, but he couldn't help but feel a bit guilty about it. After all, the old wizard had helped him over the summer and as much as legally possible with the tournament itself. He watched nervously as Bagman walked around with a small pouch in his hand.

"Now champions, please gather around and pick a number—it will tell you in which order to leave the tent and start on the task. There is a time limit of one hour for each of you to obtain your goal--a golden egg that will help you with your second task. Questions? No? All right."

Neville waited as Fleur walked out the tent to face the first task. Victor and Cedric had both gone before her so he found himself alone in the tent. Well, almost. Looking down, he glanced at the two Asian gold snakes laying unconcerned at his feet.

_Flashback_

"The first task is in two weeks. You haven't heard _anything_ about it?" Harry asked as they walked to the library.

"Nope. Nothing."

"What are we talking about?" Leevi asked as he joined them at the library doors. Christelle and Hermione were already at their designated study table—early, as usual.

"The first task." Neville sighed, shaking his head.

"No hints from anyone?" Leevi asked, a bit surprised.

"None." Neville repeated dejectedly.

"I thought you met with Dumbledore yesterday." Christelle said, motioning for them to sit down.

"Yeah. All he said was that my friends would have the devices to help me more than I realized and then told me I had all the tools I needed to succeed. I almost feel like it's a test to see how well I've learned the last couple of summers. Do you guys know anything?"

"No. Any unusual activity around the grounds? They must be getting ready to set up for the task."

"Hmmm… now that you mention it, I noticed something in the forest during Quidditch practice two days ago. I don't know if it's anything, but…"

"We could take a look! I have my dad's invisibility cloak—"

"That's _cheating_." Hermione interrupted Harry. "You're supposed to learn what your challenge is the day _of_ the first task."

"Hermione," Christelle admonished, "Neville is already at a disadvantage by being the youngest champion selected and he didn't even put his name in the goblet! Add to that the fact that the others most probably already know what the challenge entails… do you really want him to go in with that much of a disadvantage?"

"Besides," Harry added, "gaining as much of an advantage over the other competitors is practically an unwritten rule of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Nothing blatant can be done, no sabotage tolerated… but other than that, it's all fair game."

They had argued for a few more moments before the others showed up for the study session. That night, Harry and Neville had snuck out of the dorms under the invisibility cloak, leaving Ron's snores behind as they tip-toed down the staircases and into the edge of the forest.

"What is that sound?" Neville whispered. Harry shrugged and kept walking carefully into the brush. The clicking sounds had gotten louder and it was mere moments before they found Hagrid speaking to what looked like large spiders. The light from his lantern threw shadows around them, showing smaller spiders crawling over the trees around them. They hastily booked it out of the forest and back to their common room. They sat down in front of the fire shakily and didn't really go to bed that night.

_End flashback_

They had brainstormed ideas on how to take on acromantulas after that and used the Room of Requirements to help him work on a few specialized spells. Leevi and Christelle had insisted on helping him train in the evenings, even if it brought some friction between the twins and the other Durmstrang students. Fortunately that hadn't escalated above a heated discussion that Victor stopped by stating his indifference to the fact. Neville knew that they had done the best they could to prepare—even if he had initially protested learning the _serpensortia_ spell, claiming he didn't want to use dark magic. The twins had countered by saying that it wasn't as if dark magic was contagious and was perfectly safe if used judiciously. He'd almost stopped training with them then. He didn't want anything to do with dark magic—and he was sure that the headmaster would intervene if it became too dangerous. In the back of his mind, Neville knew he was ignoring the small paragraph in his book about the tournament stating the deaths of some unlucky champions… but Dumbledore wouldn't let that happen to him, would he?

He looked at the snakes at his feet as his name was called.

"_They've just called my name."_ he hissed uncomfortably. Damon and Melton looked up and wordlessly slithered up unto his outstretched arms, hiding under the sleeves of his robe.

"_Don't worry, we promisssed Leevi and Chrissstelle to take care of you."_ One of them hissed. _"We keep our promisssses."_

Neville nodded and stepped gingerly out of the tent and into the small clearing. Students, professors, and visitors crowded the bleachers around him but he only had eyes for the small stretch of forest in front of him. Grasping his wand tightly in his hand, he started the wand movements and incantation to make an illusion of a large band of snakes spread in front of him.

"Spiders are afraid of snakes, so I just need to make lost of snakes. Lots and lots of snakes." He repeated to himself as five snakes materialized around him, leading the way into the trees. The two Asian gold snakes wound around his arms hissed reassuringly as he gingerly followed.

He froze at the sight of the first acromantula he encountered. It climbed over a fallen tree quickly, its mandibles clicking menacingly as it neared him. Concentrating on his illusions, he sent two of the snakes after it while moving slowly to circle around it. As he had practiced with the twins, he aimed carefully and sent an _incendio_ towards the large spider as one of the illusion snakes darted forward as if to strike. The acromantulas backed away, clinchers attempting to cut the snake into pieces. Neville let the illusion drop and quickly made his way to the tangled web where his prize lay. Leevi had offered to lend him his broom as he had an extra dimension with which to avoid the spiders if he was on air, but he hadn't trusted his flying skills and had decided to take his chances on the ground. He was starting to have second thoughts about that decision.

He set a fallen tree ablaze to bar the spiders from approaching him in that direction and took some time to make another snake illusion to guard his back. Hesitantly, Neville holstered his wand to climb one of the trees around the web to get a better angle at cutting the sticky strands. Gasping with the effort, he hadn't noticed that his lack of concentration on the snake illusions had made them less tangible and he didn't notice the approaching acromantula. The only warning he got was a slight tightening of the snake on his arm before it shot its head out to strike at the spider. The Asian gold launched itself towards the soft spot between the acromantula's head and body, deftly avoiding the spincers. Neville on the other hand, lost his balance and fell into the sticky web. The second snake traveling with him snuck its head out of his sleeve and with quick swipes of its tail, got rid of enough of the web material around his wand arm so he could use several small _reductos_ to free himself and the golden egg. He stumbled out of the brush, pausing by the Asian gold snake slithering towards him, trying to avoid looking at the overturned, dead body of the acromantula. After letting the snake crawl back up onto his arm and under his sleeve, he set forth towards the open area, holding the golden egg in plain view of the judges and spectators.

"_Thank you for saving me back there." _He hissed quietly amongst the cheers and applause. As he watched Madame Pomfrey approach him to check him over for any injuries, he thought he felt a reassuring squeeze from both snakes. His eyes searched the crowd and landed on his uncle, standing proudly and clapping next to Professor McGonagall, then moved on to find the friends that had helped him—and the one friend that had shunned him. Ron was sitting, pale and worried, next to Dean and Seamus. Neville wondered if Ron still thought he had entered the tournament for fame. He hoped not, since he'd missed his friend the last few months. His thoughts were interrupted as the judges presented his score, and he noticed with a surprise that he was third, having surpassed Fleur Delacour by three points. And with that, Madame Pomfrey led him off to the Infirmary where she insisted on completing a thorough examination of every champion.

He'd have to remember to hide the twins' snakes before Madame Pomfrey found them under his robes.

ooOOoo

**AN: I have the most of the next chapter planned out so hopefully the next update won't take as long. For those that were wondering about the plot, I have the main events planned out but the details are worked out as I write. Cheers!**


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